*fe/m/e/Z.  Ge/akrtfarp 


SSreniano 's 

7?ew   2/or/c 

1904 


Copyrighted,  1904, 

BY 

Samuel  L.  Goldenberg. 


Art 
library 


"I  have  here  only  a  nosegay  of  culled  flowers, 
and  have  brought  nothing  of  my  own  but  the 
thread   that    ties    them   together." — Montaigne. 


•^ 


HE  task  of  the  author  of  this  work  has  not  been  an  attempt  to 
brush  the   dust  of  ages  from  the  early  history  of  lace  in  the 


hope  of  contributing  to  the  world's  store  of  knowledge  on  the 
subject.  His  purpose,  rather,  has  been  to  present  to  those  whose  rela- 
tion to  lace  is  primarily  a  commercial  one  a  compendium  that  may, 
perchance,  in  times  of  doubt,  serve  as  a  practical  guide. 

Though  this  plan  has  been  adhered  to  as  closely  as  possible,  the 
history  of  lace  is  so  interwoven  with  life's  comedies  and  tragedies, 
extending  back  over  five  centuries,  that  there  must  be,  here  and  there 
in  the  following  pages,  a  reminiscent  tinge  of  this  association. 

Lace  is,  in  fact,  so  indelibly  associated  with  the  chalets  perched  high 
on  mountain  tops,  with  little  cottages  in  the  valleys  of  the  Appenines  and 
Pyrenees,  with  sequestered  convents  in  provincial  France,  with  the  raiment 
of  men  and  women  whose  names  loom  large  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  and  the  futile  as  well  as  the  successful  efforts  of  inventors  to 
relieve  tired  eyes  and  weary  fingers,  that,  no  matter  how  one  attempts 
to  treat  the  subject,  it  must  be  colored  now  and  again  with  the  hues  of 
many  peoples  of  many  periods. 

The  author,  in  avowing  his  purpose  to  give  this  work  a  practical 
cast,  does  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  minimizing  the  importance  of  any 
of  the  standard  works  compiled  by  those  whose  years  of  study  and 
research  among  ancient  volumes  and  musty  manuscripts  in  many  tongues 


have  been  a  labor  of  love.  Rather  would  he  pay  the  meed  of  tribute  to 
those  who  have  preserved  to  posterity  the  facts  bearing  upon  the  early 
history  of  lace,  which  have  been  garnered  with  such  great  care. 

Nevertheless,  most  of  these  works,  necessarily  voluminous  and 
replete  with  detail,  are  more  for  the  connoisseur  or  dilettante  than  for 
the  busy  man  of  affairs  upon  whom  the  practical  aspect  of  lace,  quite 
dissociated  from  the  romance  in  which  it  is  steeped,  always  forces 
itself. 

It  is  for  men  of  this  type,  and  with  no  little  misgiving,  and  a  full 
appreciation  of  how  far  short  of  his  ideal  the  volume  must  be,  that  the 
author  has  undertaken  the  compilation  of  this  work. 

Samuel  L.  Goldenberg. 


LACE: 

Its  Origin  and  History. 


j^HEX,   where  and   how   lace  had   its  origin   no  one  will  pretend 

to   say.      There   is   a   general    agreement,   however,    that    lace, 

as  the  term  is  understood  to-day,  is  a  comparatively  modern 

product,   it  being  impossible  to  identify  any  of  the  antique  specimens 

preserved   from  the  ravages  of  time  as  belonging  to  a  period   further 

back  than  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

True  it  is  that  there  are  specimens  of  woven  fabrics  of  a  lacelike 
character  which  were  undoubtedly  made  at  an  earlier  date,  but  most 
of  the  authorities  who  have  delved  deep  into  the  subject  are  of  opinion 
that  lace  probably  does  not  antedate  A.  D.   1500. 

A  perusal  of  the  available  records  in  many  tongues  fails  to  make 
clear  just  where  lace  was  first  made.  Spain,  Italy,  Belgium,  France 
and  Germany  have  all  claimed  the  honor,  and  each  has  been  able  to 
present  a  great  deal  of  testimony  in  support  of  its  contention  ;  but  the 
records  of  early  times  are  so  meagre  and  indefinite  that  it  is  impossible 
to  bestow  the  coveted  honor  for  the  discovery  of  the  art  upon  any  one 
nation. 


Loci':  Its  Origin  and  History. 


The  instrument  that  is  responsible  for  lace  is  the  needle,  but  the 
earliest  forms  of  lace  were  not  the  woven  fabric  that  we  know  to-dav, 
but  rather  cutwork,  which,  as  far  as  we  have  any  authentic  records, 
was  first  practiced  by  the  nuns  in  the  convents  of  central  and  southern 
Europe.  This  work  was  sometimes  characterized  as  nun's  work,  and 
was  designed  almost  exclusively  for  altar  decorations  and  the  robes  of 
prelates,  thought  it  was  also  regarded  as  the  insignia  of  rank  and 
station.  Some  of  the  specimens  of  this  work,  still  preserved  in  museums. 
show  that  the  early  workers  possessed  a  skill  in  the  art  never  excelled. 
Of  course,  with  the  progress  of  time,  designs  have  become  more  ornate 
and  intricate,  but  many  of  the  old  patterns  still  survive,  and  doubtless 
will  continue  to  survive,  till  the  end  of  recorded  time. 

The  desire  to  elaborate  the  edges  of  plain  fabrics,  wdiether  of  linen 
or  heavier  material,  was  an  entirely  natural  impulse  to  get  away  from 
the  harsh  simplicity  of  the  times.  To  this  desire  must  be  ascribed 
the  beginning  of  the  mammoth  lace  industry  of  to-day. 

One  authority  says  that  coeval  with  these  styles  of  decoration  was 
drawnwork,  in  which  the  weft  and  warp  threads  of  plain  linen  were 
drawn  out,  thus  forming  a  square  of  network  made  secure  by  a  stitch 
at  each  intersection.  The  design  was  afterward  embroidered,  frequently 
with  colors. 

Perhaps,  all  things  considered,  the  lace  industry  received  its  greatest 
impetus  during  the  period  known  in  history  as  the  Renaissance,  when 
Europe,  emerging  from  the  severe  and  formal  garb  of  the  Medieval 
Age,  began  to  bedeck  itself  in  the  most  graceful  and  beautiful  manner. 

A  number  of  methods  were  employed  in  the  production  of  the  lace 
of  that  brilliant  period,  the  simplest  of  which  consisted  of  forming  the 
design  independently  of  the  foundation.  Threads  spreading  at  even 
distances  from  a  common  center  served  as  a  framework  for  others 
which    were    united    in    squares,    triangles,    rosettes    and    other    figures 


Real  Flemish  Point. 


Real  Point  de  Venise. 


worked  over  with  the  buttonhole  stitch,  forming  in  some  portions  open- 
work, in  others  solid  embroidery.  This  was,  in  fact,  the  first  needle- 
made  laee.  and  doubtless  its  origin  is  due  to  the  Venetians. 

Qirough  constant  practice  the  art  was  developed  to  a  very  high 
state  by  the  nuns,  who  taught  their  methods  to  the  pupils  of  the  con- 
vents, through  whom  the  knowledge  passed  to  the  peasantry,  and  thus 
became  an  important  industry.  Perhaps,  however,  the  development  of 
the  lace  industry  at  this  period  was  due  more  to  the  spread  of  the 
methods  by  which  it  was  done — through  books  more  than  in  any  other 
manner — for  it  must  be  remembered  that  contemporaneously  with  the 
development  of  the  industry  the  art  of  printing  was  in  its  first  bloom. 

As  one  traces  the  growth  of  lacemaking  from  the  earliest  times  he 
is  impressed  with  the  sharp  advance  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  when  laceworkers,  having  practically  exhausted  the 
designs  possible  by  the  then  known  methods,  invented  passementerie, 
which  were  known  as  passements.  These,  speaking  broadly,  much 
resemble  the  passementerie  of  to-day. 

They  were  made  of  stout  linen  thread  in  imitation  of  high  relief 
work  of  the  needle  point,  a  thick  thread  being  introduced  to  mark  the 
salient  points  of  the  pattern.  Thus  the  term  guipure  was  applied  to 
the  thread  lace  with  guipure  reliefs,  and  the  designation  has  since 
remained  to  all  laces  without  grounds,  in  which  the  patterns  are  united 
by  brides. 

In  the  beginning  lace  was  made  by  two  entirely  distinct  processes, 
in  commenting  upon  which  we  can  do  no  better  than  to  quote  the  words 
of  Cole,  which  are  particularly  lucid  and  concise.  He  says :  "It  is 
remarkable  that  lacemaking  should  have  sprung  up  or  been  invented 
at  about  the  same  period  of  time  by  two  entirely  distinct  processes 
without  relationship  or  evolution  between  them,  and  that  the  people  of 
the  countries  wherein  either  of  the  inventions  was  made  were  not  only 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


unknown  to  each  other,  but  apparently  neither  had  any  knowledge  of 
the  processes  of  lacemaking  employed  in  the  other  country." 

One  of  these  processes  is  the  employment  of  the  needle  and  the  single 
thread,  wherein  the  work  was  perfected  mesh  by  mesh,  each  mesh  being 
completed  as  the  work  progressed. 

The  other  process  was  by  the  use  of  many  threads  at  once,  each 
one  attached  to  bobbins,  for  the  purpose  only  of  separating  them,  the 
meshes  being  made  by  twisting  the  threads  a  greater  or  less  number 
of  times.  When  each  mesh  is  only  partially  completed  the  thread  is 
carried  on  to  the  next,  and  so  on,  from  side  to  side,  the  entire  width 
of  the  fabric. 

Felkin,  in  his  history  of  embroidery  and  lace,  says  that  when  pillow 
lace  was  invented — about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century — the  vari- 
ous kinds  of  point  lace  then  in  use  had  reached  a  high  state  of  perfec- 
tion. Some  early  writers  after  much  laborious  investigation  assert  that 
pillow  lace  was  first  made  in  Flanders.  In  later  years  it  has  been  almost 
universally  attributed  to  Barbara,  wife  of  Christopher  Uttman;  she  was 
then  dwelling  with  her  husband  at  the  Castle  of  St  Annaburg,  Belgium, 
1561.  From  the  castle,  where  she  taught  the  peasantry  as  in  a  school, 
it  soon  spread  over  the  country,  and  women  and  girls  of  the  district, 
finding  that  the  making  of  lace  was  more  profitable  than  their  former 
employment  of  embroidering  veils  according  to  the  Italian  practice, 
adopted  the  Uttman  method.  No  trace  of  this  mode  of  making  lace 
(by  use  of  pillow  and  bobbins)  can  be  found  before  this  date;  hence 
the  presumption  that  these  were  the  time  and  place  of  the  invention  of 
bobbin  lace.  Barbara  Uttman  died  in  1575.  That  she  was  the  true 
inventress  is  recorded  on  her  tomb. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  that  one  process  had  its  origin 
in  Italy,  and  the  other  its  origin  in  Belgium,  though,  if  we  accept 
Felkin's  statement,  we  must  accord  to  Italy  the  first  honor,  for  he  says 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


distinctly  that  the  Belgian  peasantry  gave  up  making  lace  according-  to 
the  Italian  method  to  adopt  the  process  invented  by  Barbara  Uttman ; 
consequently,  the  Italian  method  must  have  been  first.  The  present 
writer  disclaims  any  intention  to  dispose  of  this  moot  question,  and 
is  only  led  to  the  above  observation  by  reason  of  the  high  standing 
which  Felkin's  work  has  attained. 

There  arc  two  broad  divisions  of  lace — namely,  hand-made  lace  and 
machine-made  lace.  In  the  world  of  commerce  to-day  the  latter-named 
product,  which  is  but  a  child  of  the  former,  is  vastly  the  more  important. 
This  for  the  reason  that  hand-made  lace,  which  is  produced  with  such 
arduous  toil,  skill  and  patience,  is  beyond  the  purse  of  the  million,  and 
is  and  ever  must  be  considered  as  one  of  the  luxuries. 

True,  some  of  the  simpler  forms  of  hand-made  lace  are  produced  with 
relatively  great  facility,  and  the  price  is  correspondinglv  cheap,  as  com- 
pared with  the  delicate,  finely  wrought  designs,  that  it  sometimes  takes 
years  to  produce.  Nor  is  this  the  sole  reason  for  the  popularity  of 
machine-made  laces,  for  to  such  perfection  has  the  mechanical  art  of 
lacemaking  attained  that  it  is  practically  impossible,  even  for  experts, 
to  detect  the  difference  between  lace  made  by  the  deft,  cunning  fingers 
of  lady  or  maid  from  the  lace  made  possible  by  modern  machinery. 

In  hand-made  lace  the  two  principal  classes  are  the  needle-point 
and  bobbin,  or  pillow-made,  lace.  Needle-point  lace  is  worked  upon 
loose  threads  laid  upon  a  previously  drawn  pattern,  but  which  have  no 
point  of  contact  with  one  another  and  no  coherency  until  the  needle- 
work binds  them  together.  This  work  is  done  with  a  needle  and  single 
thread.  As  we  have  said,  the  pattern  is  first  drawn,  usually  upon  parch- 
ment ;  a  piece  of  heavy  linen  is  stitched  to  the  parchment  for  the  pur- 
pose of  holding  it  straight ;  then  threads  to  the  number  of  two,  three, 
four,  or  more,  are  laid  along  the  many  lines  of  the  pattern,  and  sewed 
lightly  down  through  parchment  and  linen.     The  entire  figure  is  then 


Real   Duchesse  and   Point  Gaze. 


Real    Carrick-ma-Cross. 


carried    out,    both    solid    filling   and    openwork,    with    fine    stitching,    the 
buttonhole  stitch  being  most  generally  employed. 

Bobbin,  or  pillow-made,  lace  is  the  highest  artistic  development  of 
twisted  and  plaited  threads.  It  is  made  from  a  large  number  of  threads 
attached  by  means  of  pins  to  an  oval-shaped  cushion  or  pillow,  each 
thread  being  wound  upon  a  small  bobbin.  The  design,  as  in  the  mak- 
ing oi  needle  point  lace,  is  first  drawn  on  stiff  paper  or  parchment, 
and  carefully  stretched  over  the  pillow.  Then  the  pattern  is  pricked  out 
along  the  outline  of  the  drawing  and  small  pins  are  introduced  at  close 
intervals,  around  which  the  threads  work  to  form  the  various  meshes 
and  openings.  From  right  to  left  the  thread  is  bound  lightly  upon  the 
bobbins  and  tied  at  the  top  of  each  in  a  loop  that  permits  it  gradually 
to  slip  oft"  the  bobbin  when  gently  pulled,  as  occurs  generally  when 
working. 

The  worker  begins  by  interlacing  the  bobbins,  which  are  used  in 
pairs,  placing  small  pins  in  all  perforations,  and  crossing  the  bobbins 
after  the  insertion  of  each  pin.  Around  these  pins  the  design  is 
formed,  the  threads  being  crossed  and  recrossed  and  passed  under  and 
over  each  other  with  remarkable  rapidity  and  accuracy.  When  the 
whole  width  of  the  large  piece  of  lace  is  carried  on  together  the  num- 
ber of  bobbins  and  pins  is  very  great  and  the  work  highly  expensive, 
but  it  is  customary  to  work  each  sprig  separately,  these  being  joined 
together  in  the  form  of  a  strip  afterward  by  means  of  a  curious  loop- 
stitch,  made  by  a  hook  called  a  needle-pin. 

Scarcely  had  lace  been  invented  before  it  had  assumed  almost 
priceless  value,  and  it  is  worth  while  remarking  here  that  though  cen- 
turies have  since  elapsed,  the  value  of  these  delicate,  hand-wrought 
fabrics  has  not  in  any  sense  diminished.  Throughout  the  sixteenth, 
seventeenth,  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  rare  lace  of  beautiful 
pattern  has  been  highly  prized,   some  of  the  earliest  specimens,  in  the 


Real  Irish   Point. 


Real  Valenciennes. 


in  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 

possession  of  world-famous  libraries  and  museums,  being  of  relatively 
Fabulous  wealth. 

By  very  reason  of  the  conditions  inevitably  associated  with  its  mak- 
ing, lace  must  always  remain  one  of  the  dearest  articles  of  commerce, 
for  there  is  certainly  nothing  more  rare  or  costly  than  these  tine,  dainty, 
yet  withal,  substantial  tissues. 

Perhaps  of  all  her  compeers  Venice  attained  the  highest  proficiency 
in  the  production  of  beautiful  lace.  There,  as  we  have  remarked, 
needle-point  had  its  origin,  and  many  of  the  beautiful  patterns  pro- 
duced by  the  women  of  the  "Queen  of  the  Adriatic"  are  even  to-day 
the  admiration  of  all  who  have  a  true  appreciation  of  the  artistic. 

Venice  guarded  the  secret  of  her  methods  with  jealous  care,  and 
it  was  many  years  before  the  world  was  made  familiar  with  the  manner 
in  which  the  exquisite  floral  designs,  with  their  wealth  of  minor  adorn- 
ments, were  worked  out.  Thus  Italy  was  able  to  lay  tribute  upon  the 
entire  civilized  world,  and  her  coffers  were  enriched  to  overflowing 
from  the  receipts  of  the  sales  of  lace  to  eastern,  central  and  northern 
Europe. 

Apropos  of  Italy's  claim  to  the  invention  of  needle-point,  it  has  been 
claimed  that  the  Italians  originally  derived  the  art  of  fine  needlework 
from  the  Greek  refugees  in  Italy,  while  another  author  asserts  that  the 
Italians  are  indebted  to  the  Saracens  of  Sicily  for  their  knowledge. 
All  these  claims,  however,  are  merely  speculative.  For  instance,  no  one 
disputes  that  embroidery  antedates  lace,  and  yet  we  have  authors  who 
endeavor  to  show  that  embroidery  had  its  origin  in  Arabia,  deducing 
from  this  that  lace,  also,  must  have  had  its  birth  in  one  of  the  Oriental 
countries.  But  it  is  a  well-established  fact  that  while  we  have  absolute 
knowledge  of  the  existence  of  embroidery  in  the  countries  of  the  Levant, 
there  is  absolutely  no  indication,  of  even  the  slightest  value,  that  points 
to  the  existence  of  lace  before  it  was  made  by  the  Italians  and  Belgians. 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History.  H 


In  the  municipal  archives  of  Ferrara,  dated  1469,  is  an  allusion  to 
lace,  but  there  is  a  document  of  the  Sforza  family,  dated  in  1493,  in 
which  the  word  "trina"  constantly  occurs,  together  with  "bone"  and 
"bobbin"  lace. 

Spain  was,  as  far  as  the  records  testify,  the  earliest  and  most  adept 
pupil  of  Italy  in  the  art  of  lacemaking,  though,  as  in  Italy,  at  the  begin- 
ning the  work  was  confined  in  the  Iberian  peninsula  to  the  inmates  of 
the  convents.  Spain,  too,  achieved  high  distinction  in  this  field,  its 
Point  d'Espagne  being  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  all  the  ancient 
laces,  even  vying  with  the  finest  Venetian  point.  In  those  days,  as  will 
be  recalled,  the  power  of  the  Church  was  absolute,  and  the  use  of  laces 
for  daily  wear  was  prohibited,  though  on  Sundays  and  holidays  it  was 
greatly  in  evidence  in  the  attire  of  those  of  high  station. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  facts  concerning  the  development  of 
lace  has  to  do  with  the  patterns  produced  in  the  various  localities  of 
Europe.  In  the  beginning  the  number  of  designs  was  necessarily  lim- 
ited, but  as  the  industry  developed  and  spread,  and  as  the  workers 
became  more  expert  and  artistic,  there  was  an  uncontrollable  impulse 
to  break  away  from  conventional  designs  and  to  evolve  new  patterns. 
Then,  too,  there  was  something  of  the  spirit  of  pride  behind  this  move- 
ment— a  sort  of  local  patriotism,  if  it  may  so  be  termed.  The  Belgian, 
the  Spaniard  and  the  Frenchman  were  not  content  slavishly  to  imitate 
Italian  designs,  and,  anxious  to  win  a  name  for  themselves,  set  about 
to  produce  new  effects  that  would  immediately  identify  them  with  the 
place  of  their  origin. 

Thus  it  was,  too,  that  various  cities  and  towns  in  Italy,  France, 
Belgium,  Spain  and  elsewhere  sought  to  establish  for  themselves  an 
individual  product  of  great  excellence  that  would  give  to  the  city  or 
town  prestige  and  renown  in  the  then  few  commercial  marts  of  the 
world.     This  explains  the  various  names  which  were  given  to  distinct 


12  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


types  oi  laces  hundreds  oi  years  ago,  and  which  designations  still  obtain, 
as.  for  instance,  Alencon,  Valenciennes,  Chantilly,  Honiton,  Arras, 
Bayeux,  Genoa,  Florence,  etc. 

Another  fact  worthy  of  record  is  that  of  all  the  almost  numberless 
designs  that  have  been  given  to  the  world  since  the  birth  of  lace  there 
have  been  some  one  or  two  characteristics  that  tell  as  plainly  as  though 
expressed  in  words  that  each  one  of  these  designs  was  made  at  some 
particular  period  of  history.  It  is  well  that  this  is  so,  for  it  has  enabled 
the  historian  to  trace,  with  more  or  less  certainty,  the  development  of 
the  industry.  In  other  words,  a  lace  expert  is  enabled  to  tell  from 
the  fabric  not  only  in  what  country  it  was  made,  but  in  what  part  of 
that  country,  and  also  the  approximate  date. 

In  the  self-sufficiency  of  the  present  age  we  are  apt  to  regard  with 
a  sort  of  supercilious  disdain  any  story  reflecting  upon  the  supremacy 
of  our  forebears  in  any  of  the  arts  or  the  sciences ;  but  that  we  cannot 
make,  in  a  commercial  way,  such  lace  as  was  woven  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries  is  beyond  question.  In  the  first  place,  time  is 
lacking,  and  if  it  must  be  confessed,  the  great  skill  that  comes  only 
through  years  of  constant  practice  is  also  lacking. 

Modern  real  lace  is  artistic,  even  superior,  but  compared  with  such 
few  specimens  as  have  come  clown  to  us  of  the  work  of  the  lacemakers 
of  old,  its  deficiency,  particularly  in  the  matter  of  the  fineness  of  the 
execution  and  thread,  is  at  once  apparent.  Hand-made  lace  is  to-day 
produced  all  over  the  world ;  commercially  its  production  is  confined  to 
France,  Belgium,  Germany,  Spain,  Italy  and  England,  where  large  quanti- 
ties are  still  produced.  France,  however,  with  that  fostering  care  which  she 
has  bestowed  upon  her  many  other  arts,  and  with  that  keen  apprecia- 
tion of  the  beautiful  that  is  so  inherent  in  her  people,  is  far  in  the  van 
in  the  matter  of  producing  hand-made  lace,  though  in  respect  to  two 
or  three  types  Belgium  is  in  the  front  rank. 


Real  Honiton. 


Real    Florentine. 


1  1  Lace:  Its  Origin  a  ml  History. 

Coming  down  to  the  question  oi  machine-made  lace,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  observe  at  the  outset  that  the  same  distinctions  that  exist 
between  the  genuine  and  the  imitation  do  not  obtain  as  applied  to  these 
fabrics.  In  other  words,  the  knowledge  that  lace  is  a  product  of  the 
frame  rather  than  the  fingers  in  no  sense  condemns  it.  For  to  such  a 
high  plane  has  the  mechanical  production  of  lace  been  lifted  that  one 
is  almost  tempted  to  say  that  the  products  vie  in  beauty  of  design  and 
perfection  of  finish  with  the  lace  produced  by  hand.  That  there  is 
warrant  for  this  seeming  exaggeration  is  borne  ont  by  the  fact  that 
not  infrequently  it  is  impossible  for  experts  to  tell  the  difference  be- 
tween two  specimens  of  lace  of  the  same  design,  one  made  by  hand 
and  the  other  by  machine. 

What  inventors  have  accomplished  in  this  respect  is  truly  marvel- 
ous. In  the  beginning  their  efforts  were  not  at  all  satisfactory,  and 
the  history  of  machine-made  lace  abounds  with  pathetic  instances  of 
men  who  sought  in  vain  to  duplicate  with  fidelity,  by  means  of  mechan- 
ical devices  of  hundreds  of  types  and  patterns,  the  dextrous  touch  of 
the   human   hand. 

W.  Felkin,  in  his  history  of  lace  manufacture,  says  that  lace  net 
was  first  made  by  machinery  in  1768.  Other  authorities  place  the  date 
as  between  1758  and  1760.  In  1809  bobbin  net  was  invented,  and  in 
1837  the  Jacquard  system  was  applied  to  the  bobbinet  machine. 

Mrs.  B.  Palliser.  in  "The  History  of  Lace,"  says  of  the  invention 
of  machinery  for  the  production  of  lace  that  the  credit  is  usually 
assigned  to  Hammond,  a  stocking  framework  knitter  of  Nottingham, 
who,  examining  one  day  the  broad  lace  on  his  wife's  cap,  thought  he 
could  applv  his  machine  to  the  production  of  a  similar  article.  His 
attempt  so  far  succeeded  that,  by  means  of  the  stocking  frame  invented 
in  the  previous  century,  he  produced,  in  1768,  not  lace,  but  a  kind  of 
knitting  of   running  loops  or  stitches. 


Lore:  Its  Origin  and  History.  15 

In  1777  Else  and  Harvey  introduced  at  Nottingham  the  pin  or 
point  net  machine,  so  named  because  made  on  sharp  pins  or  points. 
Point  net  was  followed  by  various  other  stitches  of  a  lacelike  charac- 
ter, but  despite  the  progress  made,  all  efforts  at  producing  a  solid  net 
were  futile.  It  was  still  nothing  more  than  knitting,  a  single  thread 
passing  from  one  end  of  the  frame  to  the  other,  and  if  a  thread  broke 
the  work  was  unraveled.  This  was  overcome  in  a  measure  by  gumming 
the  threads,  giving  the  fabric  a  solidity  and  body  not  possible  without 
resorting   to   some   artificial   method   of   this   sort. 

The  great  problem  inspired  the  efforts  of  numberless  inventors, 
and  many  attempts  were  made  to  combine  the  mechanism  used  respect- 
ively by  the  knitter  and  the  weaver,  and  after  many  failures  a  machine 
was  produced  which  made   Mechlin   net. 

There  are  few  histories  bearing  upon  the  invention  of  labor-saving 
devices  that  are  so  replete  with  the  records  of  failure  as  is  the  history 
of  the  attempt  to  produce  a  practical  lace  machine.  John  Heathcoat, 
of  Leicestershire,  England,  was  the  inventor  of  the  machine  for  mak- 
ing bobbin  net.  His  patents  were  taken  out  in  1809,  and  to  him  must 
be  accorded  the  credit  of  solving  for  the  first  time  the  problem  that 
had  vexed  the  minds  of  so  many  inventors  and  had  depleted  the  purses 
of  so  many  capitalists. 

The  bobbin  net  machine,  so  named  because  the  threads  are  wound 
upon  bobbins,  first  produced  a  net  about  an  inch  in  width,  afterward, 
however,   producing   it   a   yard   wide. 

It  was  the  application  of  the  celebrated  Jacquard  attachment  to  the 
lace  machine  that  has  made  possible  the  duplication  of  practically 
every  pattern  of  lace  made  by  hand.  The  machine  of  Heathcoat  was 
vastly  improved  by  John  Leavers,  also  of  Nottingham,  and  the  tvpes 
produced  by  him  are  still  in  use  throughout  England  and  France, 
though,  of  course,  there  are  in  these  days  a  large  number  of  different 


types  oi  machines  bearing  different  names,  but  the  principle  of  the 
Leavers  machine,  more  or  less  modified,  obtains  in  practically  all  of 
the  devices.  Therefore  a  description  of  the  process  of  lacemaking  by 
the  Leavers  frame  will  serve  as  a  description  for  all. 

The  number  of  threads  brought  into  operation  in  this  machine  is 
regulated  by  the  pattern  to  be  produced.  The  threads  are  of  two  sorts, 
warp  and  bobbin  threads.  Upward  of  9,000  are  sometimes  used, 
sixty  pieces  of  lace  being  made  at  once,  each  piece  requiring  118 
threads  (100  warps  and  18  bobbin  threads).  The  supply  of  warp 
threads  is  held  upon  reels,  the  bobbins  carrying  their  own  supply.  The 
warp  threads  are  stretched  perpendicularly  and  about  wide  enough 
apart  to  admit  a  silver  quarter  passing  edgeways  between  them.  The 
bobbins  are  flattened  in  shape  so  as  to  pass  conveniently  between  the 
warps.  Each  bobbin  can  contain  about  120  yards  of  thread.  By  most 
ingenious  mechanism  varying  degrees  of  tension  can  be  imparted  to 
warp  and  bobbin  threads  as  required.  The  bobbins,  as  they  pass  like 
pendulums  between  the  warp  threads,  are  made  to  oscillate,  and  through 
this  oscillation  the  threads  twist  themselves  or  become  twisted  with  the 
warp  threads,  as  required  by  the  pattern  that  is  being  produced.  As 
the  twisting  takes  place,  combs  compress  the  twistings,  making  them 
more  compact.  If  the  bobbin  threads  be  made  tight  and  the  warp 
threads  slack,  the  latter  will  be  twisted  upon  the  former;  but  if  the 
warps  are  brought  to  a  tension  and  the  bobbin  threads  be  slack,  then 
the  latter  will  be  twisted  on  the  warps.  The  combs  are  so  regulated 
that  they  come  clear  away  from  the  threads  as  soon  as  they  have  pressed 
them  together,  and  fall  into  position  ready  to  perform  their  pressing 
operations  again.  The  contrivances  for  giving  each  thread  a  particular 
tension  and  movement  at  a  certain  time  are  connected  with  an  adapta- 
tion of  the  Jacquard  system  of  pierced  cards.  The  lace  machine  is 
highly  complicated,  much  of  its  complexity  being  due  to  the  mechanism 


L8  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 

In  which  the  oscillating  or  lateral  movements  arc  produced.  Expert 
workmen  prepare  the  working  drawings  for  the  lace  machine,  and  also 
perform  the  more  important  duties  in  its  operation,  but  a  large  part  of 
the  work  is  carried  on  by  women  and  girls. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  developments  of  the  lace  industry  has 
been  the  gradual  evolution  from  the  work  of  the  hand  toilers  to  the 
utilization  ^\  complex  machinery.  In  addition  to  the  Leavers  machine, 
which  is  referred  to  elsewhere  in  extenso,  the  embroidery  machine  plays 
a  very  important  part  in  the  making  of  laces.  From  1870  to  1880,  various 
efforts  had  been  made  to  produce  lace  on  the  embroidery  machine,  and 
it  was  during  this  decade  that  the  first  success  was  achieved  in  the 
making  of  Oriental  or  net  laces  in  Plauen.  This  was  the  first  actual 
production  of  lace  from  the  embroidering  machine,  and  this  sort  of  lace, 
which  still  exists  to-day,  is  really  an  embroidery  on  a  net,  although 
usually  designated  as  lace.  A  few  years  later  a  discovery  was  made 
which  effected  a  great  change  in  the  making  of  laces  on  the  embroidery 
machine.  This  was  the  principle  of  embroidering  on  a  material  which 
was  afterward  removed  by  a  chemical  process.  The  first  article  produced 
was  called  Guipure  de  Genes,  and  was  at  that  time  patented,  but  the 
patent  was  held  to  be  invalid,  and  a  few  years  afterward  this  article  was 
generally  produced  both  in  St.  Gall,  where  it  first  appeared,  and  in 
Plauen.  By  this  method  of  manufacture  are  produced  to-day  all  of  the 
imitation  guipure  laces,  such  as  Point  de  Venise,  Rose  Point,  Point  de 
( ienes,  etc. 

The  embroidering  machine  in  use  at  the  present  day  is  constructed 
entirely  of  iron,  measuring  from  15  to  20  feet  long,  9  feet  high,  9  feet 
wide  and  weighs  about  3,800  pounds.  It  can  be  operated  by  hand  or 
by  power.  The  method  of  embroidering  is  exceedingly  simple.  The 
cloth,  usually  somewhat  over  4r|  yards  long,  is  tightly  stretched  in  an 
upright  position  in  the  center  of  the  machine,  each  end  of  the  suspended 


Real  Chantilly. 


Real  Spanish. 


20  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


strip  being  held  firmly  by  means  of  stunt  hooks.  The  needles  (from 
150  to  300  in  number,  according  to  the  sort  of  work  to  be  done)  are 
arranged  horizontally  in  a  framework  in  a  straight,  level  row,  all  pointing 

toward  the  cloth  ami  extending  from  end  to  end  of  same.  The  needles 
are  supplied  with  threads  about  one  yard  in  length,  which  are  fastened  by 
means  of  a  peculiar  knot  to  the  eye,  the  latter  being  in  the  middle  of  the 
needle  instead  of  at  the  end.  In  producing  any  given  stitch  in  the  pattern 
to  be  worked,  the  long  row  of  needles  all  move  forward  at  once  at  the 
will  of  the  operator,  and  thus  duplicate  the  stitch  in  every  pattern  or 
"section"  along  the  entire  4^  yards  of  cloth  suspended  in  the  machine. 
As  may  he  readily  understood,  the  machine  in  this  manner  completes 
4  A  yards  of  embroidery  in  the  same  time  it  would  take  a  woman  with  a 
needle  to  finish  a  single  pattern.  When  one  row  is  completed  the  strip 
of  cloth  is  raised  and  another  row  is  made,  and  so  on  until  it  is  neces- 
sary to  put  in  another  length  of  cambric.  This  machine  is  capable  of 
making  patterns  from  the  very  narrow  up  to  the  full  width  of  the  cloth. 
What  is  known  as  the  Schiffli,  or  power  machine,  is  very  similar  to 
the  hand-embroidering  device,  being  an  improvement  on  the  latter  and 
worked  with  a  shuttle  in  addition  to  the  needles.  Its  capacity  is  nearly 
eight  times  greater,  or  from  15,000  to  IS, 000  stitches  per  day,  against 
2,000  to  3,000  on  the  hand  machine.  To  offset  this  advantage,  how- 
ever, the  Schiffli  machine  is  much  more  expensive,  and  is  of  delicate  and 
complicated  construction,  easily  got  out  of  order  and  costly  to  repair. 
Until  a  comparatively  recent  date  the  Schiffli  was  not  considered  as  a 
competitor  of  the  hand  machine,  its  work  being  inferior  in  quality  and 
confined  to  simple  patterns.  At  present,  however,  it  is  generally  con- 
ceded that  the  goods  produced  by  it  not  only  compete  with  the  hand- 
machine  products,  but  are  already  superseding  the  latter  to  some  extent. 
It  is  predicted  that  the  Schiffli  machine,  operated  by  power,  will  ulti- 
mately supply  all  the  embroidery  in  the  low  and  medium  grades. 


The  variety  and  adaptability  of  the  designs  which  both  of  these 
machines  are  capable  of  producing  are  endless,  and  at  the  same  time 
comparatively  inexpensive.  It  is  this  latter  fact  which  accounts  for  the 
great  advantage  of  the  embroidering  machine  over  the  lace  machine. 
The  preparing  and  setting  of  a  design  for  a  lace  machine  is  very  ex- 
pensive, and  the  great  cost  compels  the  manufacturer  of  machine  lace  to 
turn  out  large  quantities  of  one  set  pattern  in  order  to  get  a  return  from 
his  investment. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  lace  machines  were 
first  introduced  into  France  from  Nottingham,  at  Boulogne-sur-mer, 
where  the  industry  remained  for  a  few  years  and  then  moved  to  Calais. 
There  this  industry  has  developed  and  increased  to  such  proportions  that 
Calais  is  now  the  principal  city  for  the  production  of  fine  laces  of  all 
kinds,  and  practically  leads  Nottingham  in  creating  novelties  and  new  and 
original  effects.  Shortly  after  the  Franco-Prussian  war  the  industry 
found  a  foothold  in  Caudry,  in  the  north  of  France,  where  it  has  also 
developed  to  quite  large  proportions,  and  shares  to-day  a  large  part  of 
the  trade  which  has  resulted  from  the  founding  of  the  parent  industry  in 
Calais.  The  kind  of  lace  produced  in  Caudry  is  generally  of  a  cheaper 
character  than  that  produced  in  Calais. 

In  Lyons,  too,  there  has  been  established  for  many  years  the  industry 
of  making  laces  and  nettings  by  mechanical  processes.  This  is  still  a 
very  large  industry,  and  about  twenty  years  ago  there  was  a  large  trade 
done  with  America  in  the  manufacture  of  laces  in  vogue  at  that  time, 
which  were  the  imitation  of  the  real  Spanish,  called  "Blonde  Grenade." 
There  are  still  made  in  Lyons  to-day  various  imitations  of  fine  laces, 
which  in  a  general  way  are  of  a  different  quality  to  the  laces  made  at 
Calais  or  Caudry,  and  Lyons  enjoys  a  reputation  in  regard  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  laces  it  produces  which  is  unique  in  the  trade. 

About  the  year   1890,   a   Frenchman   invented   a  machine  similar   in 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


principle  to  the  knitting  machine,  which  reproduces  with  absolute  fidelity 
the  work  of  the  bobbins  in  making  pillow  laces.  Through  this  invention 
he  was  able  to  imitate  such  hand-made  laces  as  Torchons,  Medicis,  etc., 
so  exactl)  thai  experts  could  not  detect  the  difference.  In  fact,  it  is  the 
general  testimony  of  men  associated  with  laces  for  years,  that  the  work  of 
this  machine  in  a  great  many  of  its  aspects  is  one  of  the  most  important 
contributions  of  the  mechanical  arts  in  the  production  of  lace. 

Through  the  importation  of  foreign  machines  and  foreign  workmen, 
various  attempts  have  been  made  in  the  United  States  to  establish  the 
manufacture  of  lace.  At  the  present  writing  it  is  impossible  to  state  with 
any  definiteness  what  the  result  will  be,  as  the  experiment  has  been  of  only 
a  few  years'  duration,  and  in  the  very  nature  of  things  is  at  this  date  of  a 
tentative  character. 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  be  able  to  distinguish  the  various  types 
of  hand  and  machine  made  laces,  we  append  herewith  a  glossary,  defining 
as  concisely  as  possible  the  characteristics  that  indicate  not  only  the  mani- 
fold makes  of  laces,  but  what  may  be  called  the  various  sub-divisions. 
These  definitions  are  set  forth,  the  writer  hopes,  in  terms  that  will  enable 
the  reader  to  understand  what  each  one  of  the  various  names  means,  both 
as  applied  commercially  and  descriptively. 


Real   Point  Qaze. 


Imitation   Duchesse. 


24  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT 
TYPES  OF  LACE. 

Alenqon. — A  fine,  needle-point  lace,  so  called  from  Alencon,  a 
French  city,  in  which  its  manufacture  was  first  begun.  It  is  the  only 
French  lace  not  made  upon  the  pillow,  the  work  being  done  entirely  by 
hand,  with  a  fine  needle,  upon  a  parchment  pattern  in  small  pieces.  The 
pieces  are  afterward  united  by  invisible  seams.  There  are  usually  twelve 
processes,  including  the  design  employed  in  the  production  of  a  piece 
of  this  kind  of  lace,  and  each  of  these  processes  is  executed  by  a  special 
workwoman;  but  in  1855,  at  Bayeux,  in  France,  a  departure  was  made 
from  the  old  custom  of  assigning  a  special  branch  of  the  work  to  each 
lacemaker,  and  the  fabric  was  made  through  all  its  processes  by  one 
worker. 

The  design  is  engraved  upon  a  copper  plate  and  then  printed  off 
upon  pieces  of  green  parchment  of  a  specified  length.  After  the  pat- 
tern is  pricked  upon  the  parchment,  which  is  stitched  to  a  piece  of 
coarse  linen  folded  double,  the  pattern  is  then  formed  in  outline  by 
guiding  two  flat  threads  along  the  edge  by  the  thumb  of  the  left  hand, 
and,  in  order  to  fix  it,  minute  stitches  are  made  with  another  thread 
and  needle  through  the  holes  of  the  parchment.  After  the  outline  is 
finished  it  is  given  to  another  worker  to  make  the  ground,  which  is 
chiefly  of  two  kinds :  bride,  consisting  of  uniting  threads  which  serve 
to  join  together  the  flowers  of  the  lace,  and  reseau,  which  is  worked 
backward  and  forward  from  the  footing  to  the  picot.  There  was  also 
another  ground  called  Argentella,  consisting  of  buttonhole-stitched  skel- 
eton hexagons. 

In  making  the  flowers  of  Alencon  point,  the  workwoman,  using  a 
needle  and  fine  thread,  makes  the  buttonhole-stitch  from  left  to  right, 
and,  when  she  has  reached  the  end  of  the  flower,  throws  back  the 
thread  from  the  point  of  departure  and  works  again  from  left  to  right 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History.  25 


along  the  thread.  As  a  result,  the  work  is  characterized  by  a  close- 
ness, firmness  and  evenness  not  equaled  in  any  other  point  lace. 

When  the  work  is  completed  the  threads  which  bind  lace,  linen  and 
parchment  together  are  carefully  cut,  and  the  difficult  task  of  uniting 
the  pieces  together  remains  to  be  done.  This  is  accomplished  by  means 
of  what  is  called  the  "assemblage"  stitch,  instead  of  the  "point  de 
raccroc,"  where  the  pieces  are  united  by  a  fresh  row  of  stitches. 

Another  way  of  uniting  the  pieces,  which  is  used  at  Alengon,  is 
by  a  seam  which  follows  as  far  as  possible  the  outlines  of  the  pattern 
so  as  to  be  invisible.  A  steel  instrument,  called  a  picot,  is  then  passed 
into  each  flower  so  as  to  give  it  a  more  finished  appearance. 

Alencon  point  is  of  a  durability  which  no  other  lace  can  rival.  A 
peculiarity  in  its  manufacture  is,  that  it  is  the  only  lace  in  which  horse- 
hair is  inserted  along  the  edge  to  give  increased  strength  to  the  cordon- 
net,  a  practice  originating  in  the  necessity  of  making  the  point  stand  up 
when  the  tall  headdresses  formerly  worn  by  women  were  exposed  to 
the  wind. 

Formerly  Alencon  point,  notwithstanding  its  beauty  of  construction, 
could  not  vie  with  Brussels  lace  as  regards  the  excellence  of  floral 
design,  but  this  inferiority  has  now  been  removed  by  the  production  of 
exquisite  copies  of  natural  flowers,  mingled  with  grasses  and  ferns. 
Alencon  point  is  now  made  not  only  at  the  seat  of  its  original  manufac- 
ture, but  at  Bayeux,  at  Burano,  near  Venice,  and  at  Brussels. 

Bayeux  can  boast  of  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  this  lace  ever 
made.  It  was  exhibited  in  1867,  and  consisted  of  a  dress  of  two 
flounces,  in  which  the  pattern,  flowers  and  foliage  were  most  harmoni- 
ously wrought  and  relieved  by  shaded  tints,  which  give  to  the  lace  the 
relief  of  a  picture.  The  price  of  the  dress  was  $17,000,  and  it  took 
forty  women  seven  years  to  finish  it. 

The  city  of  Alencon  had  on  exhibition  at  Paris,  in  1899,  a  piece  of 


lace   of  exquisite   description,   that    had   taken    L6,500   working   days  to 
complete. 

Allover. — Lace  of  any  kind  which  is  eighteen  inches  or  more  in 
width,  and  used   for  yokes,   Bouncings  and  entire  costumes. 

Antique. — A  pillow  lace,  hand-made  from  heavy  linen  thread,  and 
characterized  by  an  exceedingly  open,  coarse,  square  mesh.  It  is  mainly 
used    for  curtains,  bed   sets   and   draperies. 

Antwerp. — A  pillow  lace  made  at  Antwerp,  resembling  early  Alen- 
con, and  whose  chief  characteristic  is  the  representation  of  a  pot  or 
vase  of  flowers  with  which  it  is  always  decorated.  The  pot  or  vase 
varies  much  in  size  and  details.  It  is  usually  grounded  with  a  coarse 
"  Fond  Champ." 

Application. — A  lace  made  by  sewing  flowers  or  sprigs,  which 
may  be  either  needle-point  or  bobbin-made,  upon  a  bobbin-lace  ground. 
One  variety  of  Brussels  lace  affords  the  best  example  of  Application. 

Applique. — The  same  as  Application  lace. 

Argentan. — A  needle-point  lace,  usually  considered  indistinguish- 
able from  Alencon,  but  which  is  different  in  some  respects,  its  marked 
peculiarity  being  that  the  reseau  ground  is  not  made  of  single  threads 
onlv,  but  the  sides  of  each  mesh  are  worked  over  with  the  buttonhole 
stitch.  Argentan  is  often  distinguished  from  Alencon  lace  by  a  larger 
and  more  striking  pattern,  and  in  some  instances  it  is  especially  known 
by  its  hexagonally  arranged  brides.  It  is  called  after  Argentan,  a  town 
near  Alencon,  and  the  lace  was  made  there  under  the  same  direction. 

Arras. — A  white  pillow  lace,  so  called  from  Arras,  in  France,  the 
city  of  its  original  manufacture.  It  is  simple  and  almost  uniform  in 
design,  very  strong  and  firm  to  the  touch,  and  comparatively  cheap  in 
price.  It  is  made  on  a  lisle  ground.  The  older  and  finer  patterns  of  Arras 
lace  reached  their  climax  of  excellence  during  the  first  Empire,  between 
1804    and  1812,  but  since  then  they  have  gone  out  of  fashion. 


Real   Duchesse. 


Real  Irish  Crochet. 


28  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 

Aurillac. — A  pillow  or  bobbin  lace,  made  at  Aurillac,  in  France. 
In  the  early  period  of  its  manufacture  it  was  a  close-woven  fabric, 
resembling  tbe  guipure  of  Genoa  and  Flanders,  but  later  it  resembled 
English  point.     The  laces  of  Aurillac  ended  with  the  Revolution. 

Auvergne. — A  pillow  lace  made  at  the  French  city  of  Auvergne 
and  the  surrounding  district. 

Ave  Maria. — A  narrow  lace    used    for   edging.    (See    Dieppe    lace.) 

Baby. — A  narrow  lace  used  for  edging,  and  made  principally  in  the 
English  counties  of  Bedfordshire,  Buckinghamshire  and  Northamp- 
tonshire. These  laces  are  ordinarily  of  simple  design  and  specially  em- 
ployed  in  adorning  infants'  caps.  Though  this  fashion  went  out  in 
Great  Britain,  the  ladies  of  America  held  to  the  trimmed  infants'  caps 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  and  up  to  that  date  large  quan- 
tities of  this  lace  were  exported  to  America. 

Basket. — A  lace  so  woven  or  plaited  as  to  resemble  basket-work. 
It   is  mentioned   in   inventories   of   1580. 

Bayeux. — There  are  two  descriptions  of  lace  known  by  this  name : 
(a)  A  modern  pillow  lace,  made  at  Bayeux,  in  Normandy,  particularly 
the  variety  made  in  imitation  of  Rose  point;  (b)  A  black  silk  lace,  popu- 
lar because  made  in  unusually  large  pieces,  as  for  shawls,  fichus,  etc. 

Bisette. — A  narrow,  coarse-thread  pillow  lace  of  three  qualities,  for- 
merly made  in  the  suburbs  of  Paris  by  the  peasant  women,  principally 
for  their  own  use.  The  name  is  now  used  to  signify  narrow  bordering 
lace  of  small  value. 

Bobbin. — Lace  made  on  a  pillow,  stuffed  so  as  to  form  a  cushion, 
without  the  use  of  a  needle.  A  stiff  piece  of  parchment  is  fixed  on  the 
pillow,  and  after  holes  are  pricked  through  the  parchment  so  as  to  form 
the  pattern  small  pins  are  stuck  through  these  holes  into  the  pillow. 
The  threads  with  which  the  lace  is  formed  are  wound  upon  bobbins — 
small,  round  pieces  of  wood  about  the  size  of  a  pencil,  having  round 


Real  Irish  Applique. 


Imitation   Point  de  Venise. 


29 


30  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


their  upper  ends  a  deep  groove,  so  formed  as  to  reduce  the  bobbin  to  a 
thin  neck,  on  which  the  thread  is  wound,  a  separate  bobbin  being  used 
Eor  each  thread.      The  ground  of  the  lace  is  formed  by  the  twisting  and 

sing  of  these  threads.  The  pattern  or  figure,  technically  called  "gimp," 
is  made  by  interweaving  a  thread  much  thicker  than  that  forming  the 
groundwork,  according  to  the  design  pricked  out  on  the  parchment. 
This  manner  ^\  using  the  pillow  in  lacemaking  has  remained  practically 
the  same  during  more  than  three  centuries. 

Blonde. — A  lace  so-called  because,  being  made  from  raw  silk,  it 
was  "fair,"  not  white  in  color.  Blonde  lace  has  a  "reseau"  of  the  Lille 
type,  made  of  fine  twisted  silk,  the  "toile"  being  worked  entirely  with 
a  broad,  flat  strand,  producing  a  very  attractive  glistening  effect.  It  was 
made  at  Chantilly.  in  France.  At  the  Revolution  the  demand  for  this 
fabric  ceased,  as  lacemakers  were  commonly  looked  upon  as  royal  pro- 
teges. During  the  First  Empire,  however,  blonde  became  fashionable 
again,  and  since  that  time  the  popularity  of  black  silk  blonde  for  Spanish 
mantillas  alone  has  kept  the  trade  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The  man- 
ufacture is  not  confined  to  any  one  town,  but  is  carried  on  throughout 
the  province  of  Calvados,  in  Normandy,  and  is  also  made  in  Spain. 

Bobbinet. — A  variety  of  Application  lace,  in  which  the  pattern  is 
applied  upon  a  ground  of  bobbinet  or  tulle. 

Bone  Point. — A  lace  without  a  regular  mesh  ground. 

Border. — Lace  made  in  long,  narrow  pieces,  with  a  footing  on  one 
side,  the  other  edge  being  ordinarily  Van  Dyked  or  purled.  During  the 
larger  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  constant  supply  of  this  lace 
was  made  at  Genoa.  It  was  commonly  called  "Collar"  lace,  from  the 
use  to  which  it  was  put.  In  the  pictures  of  Rubens  and  Van  Dyke  it 
is  frequently  represented  as  trimming  the  broad  falling  linen  collars, 
both  of  men  and  elderly  women.  It  can  be  distinguished  from  Flemish 
lace,  also  employed  in  the  same  way,  by  its  greater  boldness  of  design. 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History.  31 


Younger  women  also  made  use  of  it  as  trimming  for  the  shoulders  of 
their  decollete  dresses,  and  also  for  sleeves,  aprons,  etc. 

Bride. — Lace  whose  ground  is  wholly  composed  of  brides  or  bars., 
without  a  reseau  or  net. 

Brussels. — A  celebrated  lace,  made  at  and  near  Brussels,  in  Bel- 
gium; more  particularly,  a  fine  variety  of  the  lace  made  there  whose 
pattern,  as  compared  with  Alencon,  has  less  relief,  and  whose  fine  net 
ground  is  without  "picots,"  the  knots  or  thorns  which  often  decorate 
"brides,"  and  also  the  edge  of  the  pattern.  Brussels  lace,  whose  history 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  progress  of  this  industry,  is  now  often 
regarded  as  an  application  lace,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  lacework- 
ers  of  that  city,  after  machine-made  net  had  been  perfected  by  an  Eng- 
lish invention  in  1810,  adopted  the  plan  of  appliqueing  their  pillow- 
made  patterns  on  that  material.  Lace  so  appliqued  can  be  recognized 
as  distinct  from  that  made  with  the  '  vrai  reseau,"  or  true  network 
ground,  by  the  fact  that  the  net  ground,  though  sometimes  removed, 
is  often  seen  to  pass  behind  the  lace  pattern,  and  also  by  the  character 
of  the  network.  Machine-made  net  is  composed  of  diamond-shaped 
meshes,  and  is  made  with  two  threads  only,  tightly  twisted  and  crossed, 
not  plaited,  at  their  junction,  and  is  quite  unlike  the  Brussels  pillow 
"reseau."  Other  peculiarities  by  which  Brussels  lace  may  be  recog- 
nized are:  (a)  It  is  not  made  in  one  piece  on  the  pillow,  but  the  pattern 
is  first  made  by  itself,  and  the  "reseau"  ground  is  worked  in  around  it 
afterward,  (b)  The  "reseau"  ground,  when  magnified  under  a  glass, 
has  a  mesh  of  hexagonal  form,  of  which  two  sides  are  made  of  four 
threads  plaited  four  times,  and  four  sides  of  two  threads  twisted  twice, 
(c)  Brussels  pillow  lace  has  two  sorts  of  "toile,"  or  substance  of  the 
pattern  as  contrasted  with  the  groundwork ;  one,  the  usual  woven  tex- 
ture, resembling  that  of  a  piece  of  cambric ;  the  other,  a  more  open 
arrangement    of    open    threads,    having   very    much    the    appearance    of 


the  Fond  Champ  "reseau."  It  remains  to  be  said,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  above-mentioned  characteristics  may  always  be  distinguished, 
that  the  Brussels  pillow  lace  of  the  present  day  differs  materially  from 
the  earlier  forms,  having  gone  through  many  changes  and  style  in  pat- 
tern and  make.  Among  these  are  Point  d'Angieterre,  called  such  for 
mistaken  reasons  only,  as  it  is  not  point  lace  nor  made  in  England;  and 
Duchesse.  a  name  of  comparatively  recent  date,  though  the  style  itself 
is  of  earlier  origin,  and  was  called  "Guipure  facon  Angleterre."  As 
regards  Brussels  needle-point,  the  earliest  made  closely  resembles  that 
of  Alencon,  though  not  quite  so  close  and  firm.  There  were  also  other 
differences,  both  the  "cordonnet"  and  the  "reseau"  being  unlike  those 
of  Alencon.  From  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  Brussels 
needle-point  underwent  changes  analogous  to  those  of  pillow  lace;  it 
became  Point  Applique,  in  which  the  needle-lace  pattern,  instead  of 
having  a  true  net  ground,  was  appliqued  on  the  machine-made  net.  But 
in  recent  years  it  has  been  noted  that  a  return  to  the  character  of  the 
earlier  and  more  beautiful  Brussels  needle-point  is  being  sought,  the 
chief  evidence  of  it  being  the  exquisite  Point  Gaze,  made  entirely  with 
the  needle  and  grounded  with  its  own  "reseau." 

Buckingham. — A  lace  originally  made  in  the  county  of  Bucking- 
ham, England,  and  of  two  kinds:  (a)  Buckingham  trolley  lace,  whose 
pattern  is  outlined  with  a  thicker  thread,  or  a  flat,  narrow  border,  made 
up  of  several  such  threads.  The  ground  is  usually  a  double  ground, 
showing  hexagonal  and  triangular  meshes;  (b)  A  lace  with  a  point 
ground,  with  the  pattern  outlined  with  thicker  threads,  these  threads 
being  weighted  by  bobbins  larger  and  heavier  than  the  rest.  In  general 
character  and  design  these  laces  strongly  resemble  those  manufactured 
at  Lille. 

Cadiz. — A  variety  of  needle-point   Brussels   lace. 


Imitation    Marquise. 


Real   Point  d'Angleterre. 


Carni\  \i  .  \  variety  of  reticella  lace  made  in  Italy,  Spain  and 
France  during  the  sixteenth  century. 

Cartisane. — Guipure  or  passement,  made  with  cartisane,  which  is 
vellum  or  parchment  in  thin  strips  or  small  rolls,  covered  with  silk,  gold 
thread  or  similar  material. 

Chain. — A  lace  of  the  seventeenth  century,  consisting  of  a  braid 
or  passement  so  worked  as  to  resemble  chain  links.  It  was  made  of 
colored  silk,  and  also  of  gold  and  silver  thread. 

Chantilly. — One  of  the  blonde  laces,  of  the  sort  recognizable  by 
their  Alencon  reseau  ground  and  the  flowers  in  light  or  openwork 
instead  of  solid.  It  is  made  both  in  white  and  black  silk.  Black  Chan- 
tillv  lace  has  always  been  made  of  silk,  but  a  grenadine,  not  a  lustrous 
silk.  The  pattern  is  outlined  with  a  cordonnet  of  a  flat,  untwisted  silk 
strand.  During  the  seventeenth  century  the  Duchesse  of  Longueville 
established  the  manufacture  of  silk  lace  at  Chantilly  and  its  neighbor- 
hood, and  as  Paris  was  near  and  the  demand  of  royalty  for  this  lace 
increased  it  became  very  popular.  At  the  time  of  the  Revolution  the 
prosperity  of  the  industry  wras  ruined,  and  many  of  the  lacemakers  were 
sent  to  the  guillotine.  During  the  ascendancy  of  the  first  Napoleon, 
the  manufacture  of  Chantilly  again  became  flourishing.  Since  then  the 
industry  has  been  driven  away  from  that  town  on  account  of  the  higher 
labor  costs  resulting  from  the  nearness  of  Chantilly  to  Paris,  and  the 
lacemakers,  unable  to  meet  this  increased  cost,  retired  to  Gisors, 
where  half  a  century  ago  there  were  between  8,000  and  10,000  lace- 
makers. The  supremacy  of  lacemaking  formerly  enjoyed  by  Chantilly 
has  now  been  trasferred  to  Calvados,  Caen,  Bayeux  and  Grammont. 
The  widely-known  Chantilly  shawls  are  made  at  Bayeux,  and  also  at 
Grammont. 

Chenille. — A  French  lace,  made  in  the  eighteenth  century,  so  called 
because  the  patterns  were  outlined  with  fine  white  chenille.     The  ground 


was  made  of  silk  in  honeycomb  reseau,  and  the  patterns  were  geomet- 
rical and  filled  with  thick  stitches. 

Cluny. — A  kind  of  net  lace  with  a  square  net  background  in  which 
the  stitch  is  darned.  It  is  so  called  from  the  famous  museum  of  antiqui- 
ties in  the  Hotel  Cluny,  at  Paris,  and  also  because  the  lace  was  sup- 
posed to  have  a  medieval  appearance.  The  patterns  used  are  generally 
of  an  antique  and  quaint  description,  mostly  of  birds,  animals  and 
flowers,  and  in  the  existing  manufacture  the  old  traditions  are  fairly 
well  preserved.  Sometimes  a  glazed  thread  is  introduced  in  the  pattern 
as  an  outline.  Cluny  is  a  plaited  lace,  somewhat  similar  to  the  Genoese 
and  Maltese  laces,  and  is  made  in  silk,  linen  or  cotton. 

Cordover.— A  kind  of  filling  used  in  the  pattern  of  ancient  and 
modern  point  lace. 

Cork. — A  name  formerly  used  for  Irish  lace  in  general,  when  the 
manufacture  of  Irish  lace  was  principally  confined  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Cork. 

Craponne. — A  kind  of  stout  thread  guipure  lace,  of  cheap  price 
and   inferior  make,   used   for   furniture. 

Cretan. — A  name  given  to  an  old  lace,  ordinarily  made  of  colored 
material,  whether  silk  or  linen,  and  sometimes  embroidered  with  the 
needle  after  the  lace  was  complete. 

Crewel. — A  kind  of  edging  made  of  crewel  or  worsted  thread, 
intended  as  a  border  or  binding  for  garments. 

Crochet. — Lace  which  is  made  with  a  crochet  hook,  or  whose  pat- 
tern is  so  made  and  then  appliqued  on  a  bobbin  or  machine-made  net. 
It  is  similar  to  needle-point  lace,  although  not  equal  in  fineness  to  the 
best  examples  of  the  latter. 

Crown. — A  lace  whose  pattern  was  worked  on  a  succession  of 
crowns,  sometimes  intermixed  with  acorns  and  roses.  It  was  made  first 
in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.     A  relic  of  this  lace  may  still  be  found 


:'.!.  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 

in  the  "faux  galon,"  sold  for  the  decoration  of  fancy  dresses  and  theat- 
rical purposes. 

Dalecarlian. —  Lace  made  for  their  own  use  by  the  peasants  of 
Dalecarlia3  a  province  of  Sweden.  Its  patterns  are  ancient  and  tradi- 
tional.    It  is  a  coarse  guipure  lace,  made  of  unbleached  thread. 

Damascene. — An  imitation  of  Honiton  lace,  made  by  joining  lace 
sprigs  and  lace  braid  with  corded  bars.  It  differs  from  modern  point 
lace  in  that  it  has  real  Honiton  sprigs,  and  is  without  needlework 
fillings. 

Darned  Lack. — A  general  name  for  lace  upon  a  net  ground,  upon 
which  the  pattern  is  appliqued  in  needlework.  The  different  laces  of 
this  kind  are  described  under  Filet  Erode,  Guipure  d'Art  and  Spider- 
work. 

Devonshire. — Lace  made  in  Devonshire,  England,  and  more  fre- 
quently designated  as  Honiton.  (See  Honiton.)  Formerly  practically 
the  whole  female  population  of  Devonshire  were  employed  in  lacemak- 
ing,  and  during  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  Belgian,  French 
and  Spanish  laces  were  imitated  in  that  country  most  successfully,  as 
were  also  Venetian  and  Spanish  needle-point,  Maltese,  Greek  and  Geno- 
ese laces.  During  the  last  century  this  variety  in  lacemaking  has  died 
out  in  Devonshire,  and  now  only  Honiton  is  made. 

Diamond. — A  lace  made  with  a  stitch  either  worked  as  open  or 
close  diamonds,  and  used  in  modern  point  and  in  ancient  needle-points. 

Dieppe. — A  fine  point  lace  made  at  Dieppe,  in  France,  resembling 
Valenciennes,  and  made  with  three  threads  instead  of  four.  There 
were  several  kinds  of  lace  made  at  Dieppe  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  including  Brussels,  Mechlin,  Point  de  Paris  and 
Valenciennes,  hut  the  true  Dieppe  point  was  eventually  restricted  to 
two  kinds,  the  narrow  being  called  the  Ave  Maria  and  Poussin,  the 
wider   and    double   grounded,    the    Dentelle    a    la    Vierge.      Dieppe    and 


Real   Torchon. 


Imitation    Valenciennes. 


37 


- 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


Havre  wore  formerly  the  two  great  lace  centers  of  Normandy,  manu- 
facturing in  those  cities  having-  antedated  that  at  Alencon,  but  the  pros- 
perity oi  the  lace  industry  in  both  these  cities  was  nearly  destroyed  at 
the  Revolution,  and  though  for  a  time  encouraged  under  the  restored 
Bourbons,  and  patronized  by  Napoleon  III,  machine-made  laces  have 
practically  driven  the  old  Dieppe  point  out  of  the  market. 

Dresden  Point. — A  fine  drawn  lace,  embroidered  with  the  needle 
and  made  in  Dresden  (hiring  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  and  the 
whole  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  was  an  imitation  of  an  Italian  point 
lace,  in  which  a  piece  of  linen  was  converted  into  lace  by  some  of  its 
threads  being  drawn  away,  some  retained  to  form  a  pattern,  and  others 
worked  together  to  form  square  meshes.  The  manufacture  of  Dresden 
point  declined,  and  now  laces  of  many  kinds  are  made  there,  notably  an 
imitation  of  old  Brussels. 

Duchesse. — A  fine  pillow  lace,  a  variety  originally  made  in  Belgium 
resembling  Honiton  guipure  lace  in  design  and  workmanship,  but  worked 
with  a  finer  thread  and  containing  a  greater  amount  of  raised  or  relief 
work.  The  leaves,  flowers  and  sprays  formed  are  larger  and  of  bolder 
design.  The  stitches  and  manner  of  working  in  Honiton  and  Duchesse 
are  alike. 

Dux  kirk. — A  pillow  lace  made  with  a  flat  thread,  and  whose  manu- 
facture was  carried  on  in  the  districts  aronnd  Dunkirk,  a  French  sea- 
port, in  the  seventeenth  century.  The  best  known  kind  was  an  imita- 
tion of  Mechlin  lace. 

Dutch. — A  coarse,  strong  lace,  made  with  a  thick  ground,  and  of 
plain  and  heavy  design.  It  is  a  kind  of  cheap  Valenciennes.  Dutch 
lace  is  inferior  in  design  and  workmanship  to  those  of  France  and 
Belgium. 

English  Point. —  (a)  A  fine  pillow  lace  made  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  generally  considered  to  be  of  Flemish  origin  and  manufacture, 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History.  39 

and  mistakenly  called  "Point  d'Angleterre,"  as  it  was  neither  point  lace 
nor  made  in  England.  Some  writers,  however,  assert  its  English 
origin.  Owing  to  the  protection  formerly  given  by  law  to  English 
laces,  large  quantities  of  Belgium  laces  are  believed  to  have  been  smug- 
gled into  England  under  the  name  of  "Point  d'Angleterre,"  so  as  to 
evade  the  customs  duties,  (b)  At  the  present  day  the  finest  quality  of 
Brussels  lace,  in  which  needle-point  sprigs  are  applied  to  Brussels  bob- 
bin-ground.     (See  Application  lace,  also  Point  d'Angleterre.) 

Escurial. — A  modern  silk  lace,  made  in  imitation  of  Rose  point. 
The  patterns  are  outlined  with  a  lustrous  thread  or  cord. 

Fayal. — A  delicately  made  and  costly  lace,  hand-made  by  the 
women  of  the  Island  of  Fayal,  one  of  the  Azores,  off  the  western  Span- 
ish coast.  The  thread  used  in  making  this  lace  is  spun  from  the  fiber 
of  the  leaves  of  the  alol,  a  plant  resembling  somewhat  the  century  plant. 
Great  skill  is  necessary  in  the  manufacture,  which  is  restricted  to  a  com- 
paratively few  women  of  the  island,  who  have  been  trained  to  this 
work  from  childhood.  The  lace  is  marketed  in  France,  chiefly  in  Paris, 
at  a  verv  high  price,  and  it  is  very  difficult  for  outside  purchasers  to 
buy  it  at  any  cost.  The  patterns  are  extremely  elegant  and  original  in 
design.  Notwithstanding  the  delicacy  of  this  fabric,  it  is  remarkably 
durable. 

Fedora. — See   Point  Applique. 

False  Valenciennes — (a)  Lace  resembling  Valenciennes  in  sur- 
face and  in  pattern,  but  without  the  true  Valenciennes  net  ground, 
(b)  A  term  for  Valenciennes  lace  made  in  Belgium. 

Flat  Point. — Lace  made  without  any  raised-work  or  work  in  relief 
from  raised  points. 

Flemish    Point. — A   needle-point   guipure   lace   made  in   Flanders. 

Footing.— A  narrow  lace  which  is  used  to  keep  the  stitches  of  the 


10  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


ground  firm  and  to  sow  the  lace  to  the  garment  upon  which  it  is  to  be 
worn.  Sometimes  the  footing  is  worked  with  the  rest  of  the  design. 
It  is  used  also  in  making  lace  handkerchiefs  and  for  quilling  effects. 

Genoa. — A  name  originally  given  to  the  gold  and  silver  laces  for 
which  Genoa  was  famed  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  but 
n.nv  applied  to  lace  made  from  the  fiber  of  the  aloe  plant,  and  also  to 
Macrame  lace. 

Gold. — Lace  made  of  warp  threads  or  cords  of  silk,  or  silk  and  cot- 
ton   combined,    with   thin    gold    or   silver   gilt  bands   passing   around   it. 
It  was  anciently  made  of  gold  or  silver  gilt  wire.     It  is  now  used  chiefly 
to  decorate  uniforms,  liveries  and  some  church  costumes,  and  occasion- 
allv  for  millinery.     The  metal  is  drawn  through  a  wire,  and,  after  being 
flattened  between  steel  rollers,  several  strands  of  the  flattened  wire  are 
passed  around  the  silk  simultaneously  by  means  of  a  complex  machine 
having  a  wheel  and  iron  bobbins.     The  history  of  gold  lace  is  interest- 
ing, as  illustrating  the  oldest   form  of  the  lacemaker's  art.     From  the 
davs  of  Egypt   and   Rome  down   to  medieval   Venice,   Italy  and   Spain, 
gold  and  silver  gilt  wire  were  used  in  making  this  kind  of  lace.     The 
Jews  in   Spain   were  accomplished  workers  in  this  art,  and  in   Sweden 
and  Russia  gold  lace  was  the  first  lace  made.     In  France  gold  lacemak- 
ing  was   a   prosperous   manufacture   at   Aurrillac   and   Arras,   at   which 
latter  place  it  flourished  up  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.     Gold 
lace  was  imported   into   England  at  an   early   date,   and   King  James   I 
established  a  monopoly  in  it.     Its  importation  was  prohibited  by  Queen 
Anne,   on   account   of   the   extravagant   uses   of  ornamentation   to   which 
it  was  put,  and  it  was  also  prohibited  in  the  reign  of  George  II,  to  cor- 
rect the  prevalent  taste  for  the  foreign  manufactured  lace.     The  attempt 
was  unsuccessful,  for  we  are  told  that  smuggling  greatly  increased.     It 
became  a  "war  to  the  knife  between  the  revenue  officer  and  society  at 
large,   all  classes   combined,   town   ladies   of  high   degree,   with   waiting- 


Real   Mechlin. 


Real  Point  de  Paris. 


11 


pj  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


maids,  and  the  common  sailor,  to  avoid  the  obnoxious  duties  and  cheat 
the  government." 

Grammont. — Grammont  lace,  so  called  from  the  town  of  Gram- 
mom,  in  Belgium,  where  it  was  originally  manufactured,  is  of  two 
kinds:  (a)  A  cheap,  white  pillow  lace,  (b)  A  black  silk  lace,  resem- 
bling the  Chantilly  blondes.  These  laces  are  made  for  flounces  and 
shawls,  and  were  used  both  in  America  and  Europe.  As  compared  with 
Chantilly,  the  ground  is  coarser  and  the  patterns  are  not  so  clear-cut  and 
elegant  as  the  real  Chantilly. 

GuEUSE. — A  thread  pillow  lace  made  in  France  during  the  eight- 
eenth centurv.  The  ground  of  this  lace  was  reseau,  and  the  toile  was 
worked  with  a  thicker  thread  than  the  ground.  It  was  formerly  an 
article  of  extensive  consumption  in  France,  but,  after  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  it  was  little  used,  except  by  the  poorer  classes. 
It  was  formerly  called  "Beggars'  lace." 

Guipure. — It  was  originally  a  kind  of  lace  or  passement  made  of 
cartisane  and  twisted  silk.  The  name  was  afterward  applied  to  heavy 
lace  made  with  thin  wires  whipped  around  the  silk,  and  with  cotton 
thread.  The  word  guipure  is  no  longer  commonly  used  to  denote  such 
work  as  this,  but  has  become  a  term  of  variable  designation,  and  it  is 
so  extensively  applied  that  it  is  difficult  to  give  a  limit  to  its  meaning. 
It  may  be  used  to  define  a  lace  where  the  flowers  are  either  joined  by 
brides,  or  large  coarse  stitches,  or  lace  that  has  no  ground.  The  mod- 
ern Honiton  and  Maltese  are  guipures,  and  so  is  Venetian  point.  But 
as  the  word  has  also  been  applied  to  large,  flowing  pattern  laces,  worked 
with  coarse  net  grounds,  it  is  impossible  to  lay  down  any  hard  and 
fast  rule  about  it. 

Hexriques. — A  fine  stitch  or  point,  used  both  in  early  and  modern 
needle-point  work. 

Holeie  Point. — A    needle-point    lace    said    to    have    been    originally 


Real   Arabian. 


Machine    Irish    Crochet. 


called  holy  point,  on  account  of  its  uses.  It  was  popular  in  the  middle 
ages  for  church  decoration,  but  was  adapted  to  different  purposes  in  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  and  various  makes  of  lace  have 
since  been  called  by  this  name. 

Honiton. — A  pillow  lace  originally  made  at  Honiton,  Devonshire, 
England,  and  celebrated  for  the  beauty  of  its  figures  and  sprigs.  The 
manufacture  is  still  carried  on  at  that  town,  where  there  is  a  lace  school, 
but  a  similar  lace  is  made  in  the  leading-  Continental  centers  of  the 
industry. 

(a)  Honiton  Application  is  made  by  working  the  pattern  parts  on 
the  lace  pillow  and  securing  them  to  a  net  ground,  separately  made.  At 
present  it  is  customary  to  use  machine-made  net  upon  which  hand- 
made  sprays   are   sewn. 

(b)  Honiton  guipure,  which  in  common  acceptation  passes  as  Honi- 
ton lace,  is  distinguished  by  its  large  flower  patterns  upon  a  very  open 
ground,  the  sprays  being  united  by  brides  or  bars. 

Honiton  braid  is  a  narrow,  machine-made  fabric,  the  variety  in  most 
general  use  being  composed  of  a  series  of  oval-shaped  figures  united  by 
narrow  bars.  It  is  of  different  widths,  in  linen,  cotton  and  silk,  and  is 
much  used  in  the  manufacture  of  handkerchiefs,  collars,  and  some 
varieties  of  lace. 

The  history  of  Honiton  lace  is  more  than  ordinarily  interesting, 
partlv  by  reason  of  the  doubt  as  to  whether  it  really  was  a  lace  of 
English  invention,  or  brought  by  the  Flemish  workmen  to  England. 
Some  writers  assert  the  former,  but  the  stronger  probability  is  that  the 
art  was  brought  from  Flanders  by  Protestant  immigrants,  who  fled 
from  persecution.  Whichever  theory  is  held,  the  development  of  the 
industry  at  Honiton,  and  its  close  resemblance  to  other  lacemaking 
processes  in  Belgium,  Holland  and  France,  afford  an  excellent  illustra- 
tion  of   the   interdependence   of   lacemakers   in    all   countries   upon   each 


other  as  regards  improvements  resulting  from  new  ideas.  Honiton,  if 
it  was  brought  from  Flanders  originally,  afterward  repaid  the  debt  by 
the  beauty  and  celebrity  of  its  designs,  which  served  as  examples  for 
Continental  lacemakers.  The  very  attempt  to  protect  its  manufacture 
in  England,  by  imposing  prohibitive  duties,  only  increased  the  desire  to 
receive  foreign  suggestions,  and  to  smuggle  foreign  laces  into  England, 
while  the  ingenuity  of  Continental  manufacturers  succeeded  in  copying 
the  best  Honiton  designs,  and  even  in  improving  upon  them.  The 
English  lacemakers  at  Honiton  were,  however,  at  first  unsuccessful  in 
their  attempts  to  rival  the  best  laces  of  the  Continent,  especially  Brus- 
sels. Although  they  had  royal  patronage,  and  the  whims  and  lavish 
expenditure  of  the  court  of  Charles  II  were  at  their  service,  together 
with  protective  duties,  it  was  not  until  the  reign  of  George  II  and 
George  III  that  English  lace  substantially  improved.  This  resulted 
from  substituting  the  working  of  the  true  Brussels  net  ground,  or  vrai 
reseau,  for  the  old  guipure  bar  ground.  The  patterns  were  also  formed 
of  detached  flower  sprays,  and  soon  the  Honiton  product  became  almost 
unrivaled.  This  superiority  continued  until  about  1820,  when  machine- 
made  net  was  introduced,  and  the  old  exquisite  net  ground,  made  of  the 
finest  Antwerp  thread,  went  out  of  fashion  by  reason  of  the  commer- 
cial demand  for  an  inferior  product.  Honiton  guipure  is  now  the  chief 
form  of  lace  made  at  that  town.  As  regards  composition  of  the  pat- 
terns of  Honiton  laces,  as  well  as  finish  and  delicacy  of  execution,  much 
improvement  has  been  manifested  during  the  last  twenty  years  by  rea- 
son of  better  schools  for  design,  and  the  rivalry  promoted  by  interna- 
tional exhibitions. 

Imitation. — Machine-made  lace  of  any  kind.  It  often  rivals  real 
lace  in  fineness,  but  necessarily  its  mechanical  regularity  of  pattern 
detracts  somewhat  from  the  artistic  character  of  the  result.  Constant 
improvement  in  processes,  however,  has  in  some  laces  made  the  resem- 


It;  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 

blance  to  the  hand-made  product  so  close  that  even  experts  can  hardly 
recognize  the  difference.  It  it  were  asked  how  the  imitation  lace  can 
be  distinguished  from  needle-point,  the  answer  is  that  it  is  not  made 
with  looped  stitches  like  the  latter,  nor  has  it  the  effect  of  plaited  threads, 
as  in  pillow  lace.  Again,  the  toile  of  machine-made  lace  is  often  found 
to  be  ribbed,  and  this  lace  is  very  generally  made  of  cotton  instead  of 
the  linen  thread  with  which  old  needle-point  and  pillow  lace  is  made. 
In  the  invention  of  substitutes  for  hand-made  lace  stitches  Switzer- 
land has  been  the  leader,  and  by  1868  hundreds  of  machines,  perfected 
from  the  invention  of  a  native  of  St.  Gall,  were  turning  out  a  close  imi- 
tation of  the  hand-made  work.  The  most  recent  triumphs  of  this 
description  are  the  imitations  of  Venetian  point,  in  which  a  nearer 
approximation  than  ever  before  has  been  made  to  the  needle-worked 
toile,  and  also  of  the  bride  work.  But,  notwithstanding  the  marvelous 
results  attained  in  machine-made  lace,  they  are  the  triumphs  of  mechan- 
ism which  cannot  displace  the  superiority,  and  charm,  and  rarity,  of  the 
finest  hand-made  work.  In  the  latter  the  personal  equation,  the  skill 
and  the  loving,  workmanlike  fidelity  of  the  individual  toiler  to  his  task 
impart  a  quality  which  dead  mechanism  can  neither  create  nor  super- 
sede. Machine-made  lace  may  be  predominantly  the  lace  of  commerce, 
but  hand-made  lace  is  the  natural  expression  and  embodiment  of  a  deli- 
cate and  difficult  art,  and  thus  it  will  ever  remain. 

Insertion.- — A  .kind  of  lace,  embroidery  or  other  trimming  used  to 
insert  in  a  plain  fabric  for  ornamental  purposes.  It  is  made  with  the 
edges  on  both  sides  alike,  and  often  a  plain  portion  of  the  material  out- 
side the  work,  so  that  it  may  be  sewn  on  one  side  to  the  garment  for 
which  it  is  intended  and  to  the  plain  part  of  the  lace  or  border  on  the 
other. 

Irish. — A  term  denoting  a  variety  of  laces  made  in  Ireland,  of 
which   the  two  most  individual  and  best-known   kinds  are  the  net  em- 


is  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


broideries  of  Limerick  and  the  applique  and  (.-tit  cambric  work  of  Car- 
rick-ma-cross.  ( )ther  varieties,  which  are  imitations  of  foreign  laces, 
are  Irish  point,  resembling  Brussels  lace;  black  and  white  Maltese; 
silver,  black  and  white  blondes.  The  Limerick  embroideries,  for  they 
cannot  be  strictly  called  lace,  are  an  imitation  of  Indian  tambour  work, 
and  consist  of  tine  embroidery  in  chain-stitches  upon  a  Nottingham 
net.  Carrick-ma-cross,  or  Irish  guipure,  is  a  kind  of  so-called  Irish 
point  lace,  made  at  the  town  of  that  name,  but  which  is  really  nothing 
more  than  a  species  of  embroidery,  from  which  part  of  the  cloth  is  cut 
away,  leaving  a  guipure  ground.  It  is  not  a  very  durable  lace.  The 
most  popular  patterns  are  the  rose  and  the  shamrock.  Irish  crochet  is  an 
imitation  of  the  needle-point  laces  of  Spain  and  Venice ;  that  is  to  say, 
it  resembles  these  laces  in  general  effect.  There  is  also  a  needle-point 
lace  made  of  rather  coarse  thread,  and  used  exclusively  in  Ireland  and 
England.  The  manufacture  of  laces  in  Ireland  is  carried  on  by  the  cot- 
tagers, by  the  nuns  in  the  convents,  and  in  several  industrial  schools 
founded  for  that  purpose.  It  has  only  become  a  popular  industry 
within  the  last  twenty-five  years,  as  the  costumes  of  the  people  in  earlier 
times  did  not  require  lace  ornamentation,  and  there  was  a  widespread 
and  deep-rooted  aversion  to  the  adoption  of  English  fashions  in  clothing 
so  long  as  certain   sumptuary  laws  were  unrepealed. 

Afterward,  under  slightly  more  liberal  conditions,  English  fashions 
were  gradually  adopted,  and  with  them  came  the  demand  for  a  cheap 
Irish  lace,  as  the  foreign  laces  were  too  expensive.  Not  until  1743  was 
there  any  official  attempt  to  encourage  the  industry,  but  in  that  year  the 
Royal  Dublin  Society  established  prizes  -for  excellence  in  lacemaking. 
This  attempt  lasted  until  1774.  In  1820  a  school  was  opened  in  Lim- 
erick for  instruction  in  the  now  celebrated  lace  or  embroidery  first  made 
in  that  town;  but  in  the  famine  years  of  1846-48  more  effectual  meas- 
ures were  taken  to  spread  a  knowledge  of  the  art,  and  several  schools 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History.  49 

were  opened  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  The  Irish  have  never 
made  a  lace  that  can  in  any  sense  be  called  national,  but  great  skill  has 
been  developed  in  the  imitations  of  the  foreign  fabrics,  and  the  Irish 
name  has  been  so  closely  associated  with  some  of  them  that  they  are 
popularly  considered  a  native  Irish  product.  The  exhibition  of  Irish 
laces  at  the  Mansion  House  in  London  in  1883  added  materially  to  the 
reputation  of  these  fabrics. 

Irish  Trimming. — A  plain-patterned,  woven  lace,  formerly  used 
in  ornamenting  muslin  underwear,  pillow  slips  and  the  like. 

Jesuit. — A  modern  needle-point  lace,  made  in  Ireland,  and  so  called 
on  account  of  the  tradition  as  to  the  introduction  of  its  manufacture 
after  the  famine  of  1846. 

Knotted. — A  term  applied  to  the  old  Punto  a  Groppo,  of  Italian 
manufacture  originally,  and  consisting  of  a  fringe  or  border  made  of 
knotted  threads.  It  is  commonly  called  Knotting  in  all  English-speak- 
ing countries.     The  modern  Macrame  is  made  like  the  knotted  laces. 

Lille. — A  lace  made  at  Lille,  in  France,  noted  for  its  clear  and  light 
single  reseau  ground,  which  is  sometimes  ornamented  with  points 
d'esprit.  It  is  a  lace  of  simple  design,  consisting  of  a  thick  run  thread, 
enclosing  cloth-stitch  for  thick  parts,  and  plaitings  for  open  parts.  The 
old  Lille  lace  is  always  made  with  a  stiff  and  formal  pattern,  with  a 
thick,  straight  edge,  and  with  a  square  instead  of  the  usual  round  dots 
worked  over  the  ground.  Lille  was  distinguished  as  a  lacemaking  city 
as  far  back  as  1582,  and  from  that  year  until  1848  the  industry  was 
successful,  but  since  the  latter  year  there  has  been  a  steady  decline,  as 
more  remunerative  occupations  have  gradually  drawn  away  the  younger 
workers  from  lacemaking.  The  Lille  pattern  was  similar  to  that  of  the 
laces  made  at  Arras  and  Mirecourt,  in  France,  and  in  Bedfordshire  and 
Buckinghamshire,  in  England,  but  none  of  the  latter  could  rival  the 
famous  single  reseau  ground. 


50  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 

Limerick. — (Sec   Irish  Lace.) 

Luxeuil. — A  term  applied  to  several  varieties  of  hand-made  lace 
produced  at  Luxeuil,  France.  They  are  stout,  heavy  laces,  mostly  made 
with  the  use  of  braid,  and  are  much  used   for  curtains  and  draperies. 

Macrame. — A  word  of  Arabic  derivation,  signifying  a  fringe  for 
trimming,  whether  cotton,  thread  or  silk,  and  now  used  to  designate  an 
ornamental  cotton  trimming,  sometimes  called  a  lace,  made  by  leaving 
a  long  fringe  of  coarse  thread,  and  interweaving  the  threads  so  as  to 
make  patterns  geometrical  in  form.  It  is  useful  in  decorating  light 
upholstery.  Macrame  cord  is  made  of  fine,  close-twisted  cotton  thread, 
prepared  especially  for  the  manufacture  of  Macrame  trimming,  and  also 
for  coarse  netting  of  various  kinds.  The  foundation  of  all  Macrame  lace 
or  trimming  is  knots,  made  by  tying  short  ends  of  thread  either  in  hori- 
zontal or  perpendicular  lines,  and  interweaving  the  knots  so  as  to  form 
a  geometrical  design,  as  above  mentioned,  and  sometimes  raised,  some- 
times flat.  This  necessitates  the  forming  of  simple  patterns.  This  lace 
is  really  a  revival  of  the  old  Italian  knotted  points,  which  were  much 
used  three  centuries  ago  in  Spain  and  Italy  for  ecclesiastical  garments. 
It  appears  in  some  of  the  paintings  of  the  early  masters,  notably  Paul 
Veronese.  The  art  has  been  taught  during  all  the  nineteenth  century  in 
the  schools  and  convents  along  the  Riviera.  It  is  developed  in  great 
perfection  at  Chiavari,  and  also  at  Genoa.  Specimens  of  elaborate  work- 
manship were  in  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1867. 

Macklin. — Another  name  for  Mechlin  lace. 

Maline. — A  name  sometimes  applied  to  Mechlin  lace,  especially  to 
the   varieties   whose  ground   is   distinguished  by  a  diamond-shaped  mesh. 

Maltese. — A  heavy  but  attractive  pillow  lace,  whose  patterns,  of 
arabesque  or  geometric  design,  are  formed  of  plaiting  or  cloth-stitch, 
and  are  united  with  a  purled  bar  ground.     It  is  made  both  in  white  silk 


Real   Cluny. 


Real  Bruges. 


51 


52  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


and  thread,  and  also  in  black  Barcelona  silk.  There  is  also  a  cotton 
machine-made  variety,  used  chiefly  in  trimming  muslin  underwear. 
The  history  of  Maltese  lace  is  interesting  from  the  fact  that  the  kind 
originally  made  in  that  island  by  the  natives,  which  was  a  coarse  variety 
of  Mechlin  or  Valenciennes,  of  an  arabesque  pattern,  was  in  1833  super- 
seded by  the  manufacture  of  the  white  and  black  silk  guipures  now  so 
widelv  known  as  Maltese  lace.  This  improvement  was  clue  to  Lady 
Hamilton  Chichester,  who  brought  laceworkers  over  from  Genoa  to 
teach  their  craft  in  the  island.  Some  of  the  patterns  from  that  time 
showed  the  influence  of  the  Genoese  instruction.  Maltese  lace  is  made 
not  only  in  Malta,  but  in  Auvergne  and  Lepuy  in  France;  in  Bucking- 
hamshire and  Bedfordshire,  in  England,  and  also  in  the  Irish  lace 
schools.  Ceylon  and  Madras  lace  also  resembles  Maltese.  Formerly 
shawls  and  veils  of  much  beauty  and  value  were  made  of  this  lace,  but 
the  manufacture  is  now  confined  chiefly  to  narrow  trimmings. 

Mechlin. — A  pillow  lace  originally  made  at  Mechlin,  Belgium,  and 
whose  special  characteristics  are  the  narrow,  flat  thread,  band  or  cord, 
which  outlines  the  pattern,  and  the  net  ground  of  hexagonal  mesh. 
Sometimes  the  mesh  is  circular.  The  net  ground  is  made  of  two 
threads  twisted  twice  on  four  sides  and  four  threads  plaited  three  times 
on  the  two  other  sides.  In  this  it  differs  from  Brussels  lace,  whose 
plait  is  longer  and  whose  mesh  is  larger.  The  lace  is  made  in  one  piece 
upon  the  pillow,  the  ground  being  formed  with  the  pattern.  The  very 
finest  thread  is  used,  and  a  high  degree  of  skill  is  necessary,  so  that  the 
resulting  fabric  is  very  costly.  It  is  a  filmy,  beautiful  and  highly  trans- 
parent lace,  and  preserves  for  a  very  long  time  its  distinguishing  pecu- 
liarity of  a  shiny  thread  or  band  surrounding  the  outlines  of  the  sprigs 
and  dots  of  the  design.  The  earliest  Mechlin  designs  were  very  like 
those  of  Brussels  lace,  though  not  so  original  and  graceful ;  but  in  this 
respect  later  Mechlin  laces   showed  marked  improvement.     The  funda- 


Imitation  Mechlin. 


Imitation   Torchon. 


53 


,-,  I  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


mental  difference  between  the  two,  however,  was  that  Mechlin  was 
worked  in  one  piece  upon  the  pillow,  while  the  Brussels  pattern  was 
first  made  by  itself,  and  the  reseau  or  net  ground  was  afterward  worked 
in  around  it.  The  manufacture  of  Mechlin  has  long  been  on  the  decline, 
the  French  Revolution  seriously  injuring  the  industry;  and  when  the 
trade  was  revived  and  encouraged  under  Napoleon,  the  exquisite  pat- 
terns of  former  times  had  been  partly  forgotten  or  were  too  expensive 
for  popular  demand.  At  the  time  of  its  highest  popularity  it  was  called 
the  Queen  of  Laces,  sharing  that  title  with  the  finest  Alencon  point. 
Mechlin  sometimes  had  an  ornamental  net  ground  called  Fond  du  Neige, 
and  also  a  ground  of  six-pointed  Fond  Champ,  but  these  kinds  were 
rare.  It  has  always  heen  a  very  great  favorite  with  the  English,  and 
appears  in  most  of  their  family  collections  of  laces.  There  was  a  fine 
collection  of  this  lace  at  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1867  from  Turnhout, 
Belgium,  as  well  as  from  other  lace  manufacturing  centers. 

Medici. — A  name  for  a  variety  of  modern  torchon  lace,  whose  dis- 
tinguishing peculiarity  is  the  insertion  effect,  the  lace  being  very  like 
an  ordinary  insertion,  with  the  exception  of  having  one  edge  finished 
with  scallops.  The  Medici  design  is  also  characterized  by  plain,  close- 
woven  work,  the  close  work  alternating  in  equal  amount  with  the  open- 
work,  the  contrast  between   them  heightening  the  effect. 

Melange.— A  heavy,  black  silk  lace,  distinguished  by  its  mingling 
of  Spanish  patterns  with  ordinary  Chantilly  effects.  The  edge  is  usu- 
allv  plain  and  straight,  but  is  sometimes  ornamented  with  a  fine  silk 
fringe. 

Mignonette. — A  light  pillow  lace,  with  an  open  ground  resembling 
tulle,  made  in  narrow  strips.  It  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  pillow  laces, 
and  flourished  greatly  during  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries.  It  was  made  of  Lille  thread,  and  the  chief  places  of  its  manu- 
facture were  Arras,  Lille  and  Paris,  in  France,  and  in  Switzerland. 


Mirecourt. — A  lace  made  of  detached  sprigs  upon  a  net  made  at 
the  same  time  with  the  pattern.  In  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  a 
French  guipure  lace  of  more  delicate  texture  and  varied  design  than 
other  guipures.  Mirecourt,  in  the  Department  of  the  Vosges,  and  its 
environs,  were  the  center  of  the  industry.  The  manufacture  was  begun 
at  an  early  date,  and  for  centuries  only  hempen  thread  was  used,  the 
result  being  a  coarse  guipure  :  but  during  the  early  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  a  finer  lace  of  more  delicate  pattern  was  produced,  and 
it  began  to  be  exported  in  considerable  quantities.  Before  the  union  of 
Lorraine  with  France,  in  17GG,  there  was  less  than  800  laceworkers  in 
Mirecourt,  but  in  1869  the  number  had  increased  to  25,000.  During 
the  last  century  the  French  demand  for  this  lace  increased  far  beyond 
the  foreign  demand,  and  it  became  desirable  to  produce  a  greater  vari- 
ety of  pattern.  This  was  done  with  great  success  by  imitating  the 
best  designs.  Another  recent  improvement  at  Mirecourt  is  the  making 
of  application  flowers,  and  though  these  are  not  yet  as  finished  as  the 
Brussels  sprigs,  they  bid  fair  to  supply  the  French  market,  so  as  to 
make  it  to  that  extent  independent  of  Belgium.  The  lace  made  at  Mire- 
court is  mostly  white.  The  work  is  similar  in  process  and  equal  in  qual- 
ity to  that  of  Lille  and  Arras. 

Nanduti. — A  lace  made  by  the  natives  of  Paraguay,  Ecuador  and 
Peru,  South  America,  from  the  soft,  brilliant  fiber  of  the  agave  plant. 
It  is  made  in  silk  or  thread  by  a  needle  on  a  cardboard  pattern.  In 
Peru  and  Ecuador  it  is  also  needle-made  in  the  form  of  small  squares 
and  united  together. 

Xeedle-poixt. — Real  lace  of  any  kind  worked  with  a  needle,  on  a 
parchment  pattern,  and  not  with  bobbins  or  on  a  pillow.  The  distinc- 
tion between  needle-point  and  bobbin-made,  or  pillow  lace,  is  also  illus- 
trated by  the  solid  part  of  the  pattern,  and  also  the  ground  of  the  for- 
mer.    In  needle-point  the   solid  parts   are  invariably   made  of   rows  of 


buttonhole  stitches,  sometimes  closely  worked  and  sometimes  with  small 
open  spaces  left  in  the  patterns.  The  "brides"  in  needle-point  consist 
of  one  or  two  threads  fastened  across  from  one  part  of  the  pattern  to 
another,  and  then  closely  buttonholed  over;  it  will  be  found,  also,  that 
true  needle-point  is  made  with  only  one  kind  of  stitch,  the  looped  or 
buttonhole  stitch  already  mentioned,  and  that  this  is  constant  amid  all 
varieties  of  design  in  this  kind  of  lace.  Pillow  lace,  on  the  contrary, 
has  a  "toile"  made  of  threads  crossing  each  other  more  or  less  at  right 
angles;  its  "brides"  consist  of  twisted  or  plaited  threads,  and  the 
"picots"  are  simple  loops,  while  the  network  ground  of  pillow  lace  is 
of  far  greater  variety  than  that  of  needle-point.  In  all  kinds  of  pillow 
lace  the  net  groundwork  is  made  by  twisting  and  plaiting  the  threads, 
sometimes  in  twos  and  sometimes  in  fours.  Briefly  speaking,  the  funda- 
mental difference  between  needle-point  and  pillow  lace  is  that  the  for- 
mer is  made  with  looped  stitches  throughout,  while  the  latter  is  made 
with  twisted  or  plaited  threads,  which  last  is  really  weaving,  though  it 
is  done  with  bobbins  and  the  hand  instead  of  with  the  loom. 

Oriental. — A  lace  made  on  the  embroidering  machine,  which  by 
combined  needle  and  shuttle  action  produces  either  simple  or  complex 
designs  upon  netting.  The  action  of  the  Schiffli  machine  somewhat 
resembles  that  of  a  sewing-machine,  and  the  product  is  more  properly 
called  embroidery  than  lace.  The  openwork  effects  are  produced  either 
by  the  action  of  chemicals  upon  the  foundation  material,  or  by  the  use 
of  the  scissors.  The  threadwork  results  from  the  combined  action  of 
the  shuttle  and  needles.  St.  Gall,  Switzerland,  and  Plauen,  Saxony, 
are  the  chief  manufacturing  centers  for  these  laces,  which  include  trim- 
ming and  border  laces,  curtains,  bed  sets,  shams,  and  the  like.  In  the 
broad  historical  sense,  Oriental  laces  and  embroideries  refer  to  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  East,  especially  to  the  Chinese,  Indian,  Japanese,  Persian 
and  Turkish.     All  these  were  remarkable  for  the  labor  expended  upon 


Real  Renaissance. 


g 

%J;.  $$?,■ 

*E? 

Sr! 

$!% 

JrSSJK 

Machine  Valenciennes. 


57 


5g  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


them,  their  great  cost,  and  the  originality  and  boldness  of  idea  and 
coloring  which   marked   their  design. 

Ovaii. A   guipure   lace   or   openwork   embroidery,    made   by   means 

of  a  hook  in  a  fashion  similar  to  crochet.  The  pattern  is  often  elabo- 
rate, and  in  silks  of  many  colors,  representing  flowers,  foliage,  etc.  It 
is  sometimes  in   relief. 

Parchment. — Lace  in  whose  manufacture  parchment  has  been  used, 
whether  in  the  pattern  for  the  worker's  guidance,  or  for  stiffening  the 
fabric,  as  in  Cartisane  lace.  In  old  accounts  of  laces,  the  term  was 
often  applied  to  those  made  on  the  pillow  to  distinguish  them  from 
needle-point  laces,  and  it  was  derived  from  the  pattern  on  which  pillow 
laces  were  worked. 

Passement. — A  term  applied  to  the  oldest  class  of  pillow  laces,  at 
a  time  when  they  were  of  comparatively  simple  construction,  being  little 
more  than  open  braids  and  gimps.  This  designation  was  in  use  until 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  word  is  now  applied  to  a 
decorative  edging  or  trimming,  especially  a  gimp  or  braid.  It  is  an 
old  French  word,  and  in  the  country  of  its  origin  included  in  its  mean- 
ing both  lace  and  embroideries.  It  has  an  interesting  literary  associa- 
tion, having  figured,  under  the  slightly  altered  form  of  "passemens," 
in  a  satirical  poem  published  at  Paris  in  1661.  The  poem,  which  is 
entitled  "La  Revoke  des  Passemens,"  is  dedicated  to  Mademoiselle  de 
la  Trousse,  a  cousin  of  Madame  de  Sevigne,  and  was  probably  com- 
posed by  one  of  her  literary  friends.  It  is  a  protest  against  a  sumptu- 
arv  law  passed  in  the  previous  year  to  check  the  lavish  expenditure  on 
laces  imported  from  Venice  and  Italy,  and  is  interesting  as  an  account 
of  the  best  laces  of  that  day,  among  which  are  'Tointes  de  Genes,  de 
Raguse,  de  Yenise,  d'Angleterre  et  de  Flanders,"  as  well  as  the  "Gueuse" 
of  humbler  pretensions.  The  various  laces  are  supposed  to  revolt 
against  the  law  excluding  them  from  France,  and  especially  from  their 


place  in  the  exalted  society  of  the  court.     Mesdames  les  Broderies — 
"Le  Poinds,   Dentelles,   Passemens, 
Qui  par  une  vaine  despence, 
Ruinoient  aujourd  'hui  la  France" — 
call  an  indignation  meeting.     One  of  them  hotly  demands  what  punish- 
ment shall  be  meted  out  to  the  court  for  such  treatment — 
"Dites  moi  je  vous  prie 
Poincts,  dentelles  on  broderies, 
Qu'aurons  nous  done  fait  a  la  cour,"  etc. 
Various  laces   speak  their  mind   freely  in   reply,  but  most  of  them   are 
gloomy  as  to  the  future,  while  a  few  try  to  take  a  philosophical  view  of 
the  situation,  and   resign  themselves  to  an  humbler  though  still  useful 
fate.     An  English  lace,  "une  Grande  Dentelle  d'Angleterre"  answers 

"Cet  infortune  sans  seconde 
Elle  fait  bien  renoncer  au  monde 

Pour  ne  plus  tourner  a  tout  vent 
Comme  d'entrer  dans  un  Convent." 

The  laces  of  Flanders  are  not  so  submissive  as  that,  being  too  vain 
and  ambitious  for  renunciation  of  the  world  and  life  in  a  convent,  and 
their  angry  opposition  starts  a  little  tempest  of  debate,  fierce  resolution 
alternating  with  despair.  A  black  lace  in  hopeless  mood  hires  herself 
out  with  a  game  merchant,  for  nets  to  catch  snipe  and  woodcock.  An 
old  gold  lace,  in  grandmotherly  style,  tries  to  comfort  the  younger  ones, 
by  reminding  them  of  the  vanity  of  the  world.  She  knows  all  about  it 
— she,  who  has  dwelt  in  king's  houses.  The  Flanders  laces  cry  out  that 
rather  than  give  in  they  would  sooner  be  sewn  to  the  bottom  of  a  petti- 
coat. Some  of  tbe  younger  ones  declare  they  must  still  have  amuse- 
ment, having  had  so  much,  and  rather  than  renounce  the  world  they  will 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History.  61 

seek  refuge  in  the  masquerade  shops.  The  point  laces,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Aurillac,  then  resolve  to  go  each  to  his  own  country,  when  sud- 
denly the  humble  but  plucky  Gueuse  lace,  the  lace  of  the  common  people, 
arrives  from  a  village  near  Paris  and  encourages  the  others  to  fight  it 
out. 

The  next  morning  they  all  assemble  and  agree  upon  a  plan  of  cam- 
paign, but  before  doing  so  take  stock  of  their  qualifications  and  pros- 
pects. Poinct  d'Alencon  has  a  good  opinion  of  herself ;  a  Flanders  lace 
says  she  made  two  campaigns  under  the  king,  as  a  cravat ;  another  had 
been  in  the  wars  under  the  great  Marshal  Turenne;  another  was  torn 
at  the  siege  of  Dunkirk ;  and  all  had  done  something  worth  notice. 
"What  have  we  to  fear?"  asked  an  English  lace.  A  Poinct  de  Genes,  of 
rather  flabby  character,  advises  the  English  lace  to  go  slow.  Finally 
open  war  is  declared,  and  the  laces  all  assemble  at  the  fair  of  St.  Ger- 
main to  be  reviewed  by  General  Luxe.  The  muster  roll  is  called  by 
Colonel  Sotte  Depense,  and  the  various  regiments  and  battalions  march 
forth  to  victory  or  death.  But  they  got  neither,  for  at  the  first  approach 
of  the  royal  artillery  they  take  to  their  heels,  are  captured  and  con- 
demned to  various  punishments. 

The  gold  and  silver  laces,  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion,  are  sentenced 
to  the  fate  of  Jeanne  D Arc,  to  be  burned  alive ;  the  points  are  con- 
demned to  be  made  into  tinder  for  the  sole  use  of  the  King's  Musketeers; 
others  are  to  be  made  into  cordage  or  sent  to  the  galleys.  But  pardon 
is  obtained  through  the  good  offices  of  cunning  little  Cupid — ''Le  petit 
dieu  plein  de  finesse,"  and  the  rebels  are  restored  to  their  former  posi- 
tion. 

The  poem  illustrates  the  policy  of  most  European  governments  at 
that  time,  a  policy  of  excluding  foreign  manufactures  of  all  kinds;  and 
in  the  case  of  laces,  the  fear  of  encouraging  wasteful  habits  among  the 
rich,  who  offered  a  tempting  opportunity   for  royal  extortion,   was  too 


,;•_>  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


useful  a  pretence  to  be  passed  by.  But  all  these  efforts  were  fruitless 
to  discourage  the  growth  of  lacemaking.  The  passion  for  beauty  in 
personal    adornment   would    not    down.      The   engravings   of   Abraham 

Bosse,  which  portray  the  dress  and  manners  of  that  time,  humorously 
depict  the  despair  of  the  fashionable  lady  over  the  prospect  of  giving  up 
her  laces.  She  is  represented  as  attired  in  plain  hemmed  linen  cuffs, 
collar  and  cap  of  Puritanical  severity,  bemoaning  her  sad  fate,  in  heart- 
breaking strains,  as  she  sorrowfully  packs  away  her  rich  lace-trimmed 
costumes.  Her  sadness  was  not  unduly  prolonged.  Colbert,  the  great 
French  statesman,  saw  that  laces  would  be  smuggled  if  they  were  legally 
prohibited,  that  the  rich  would  have  them  at  any  cost,  so  he  encouraged 
foreign  lacemakers  to  come  to  France,  and  the  manufacture  was  thus 
promoted. 

Pillow. — Lace   made    on    the   pillow    or   cushion,   both   pattern   and 
mesh  being  formed  by  hand.     See  Needle-point  lace. 

Plaited.— A  pillow  lace  of  simple  geometrical  design,  often  made 
of  strong  and  stiff  strands,  such  as  gold  thread  or  fine  braid.  The  pat- 
tern, besides  being  geometrical  in  design,  is  open,  and  has  no  grounds. 
For  ordinary  purposes  tinsel  is  used  instead  of  real  gold,  and  the  lace 
is  then  employed  for  theatrical  purposes.  Historically  considered,  the 
plaited  laces  made  of  gold,  silver  or  silk  thread,  took  the  place  of  the 
Italian  knotted  laces  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Those  produced  at  Genoa 
and  in  Spain  were  the  best,  and  they  are  made  in  Spain  to-day,  chiefly 
for  church  uses.  The  thread  plaited  laces  of  the  seventeenth  century 
were  used  to  trim  ruffs  and  falling  collars,  but  went  out  of  fashion 
when  flowing  wigs  came  in,  as  the  latter  hid  the  collar  and  would  not 
allow  ruffs  to  be  worn.  At  the  present  time  plaited  laces  have  become 
known  under  the  name  of  Maltese  and  Cluny,  and  are  made  at 
Auvergne,  in  France,  Malta,  and  in  the  English  counties  of  Bedford- 
shire and  Buckinghamshire. 


Real  Maltese. 


Real  Guipure. 


Plauen. — A  name  applied  to  any  kind  of  lace  made  at  Plauen, 
Saxony,  or  elsewhere,  upon  the  embroidering  machine,  such  as  Orien- 
tal, tulle  and  chiffon  lace,  Point  de  Venise,  Point  d'Irlande.  Plauen 
led  in  the  manufacture  of  this  kind  of  lace,  having-  begun  it  in  1881, 
from  which  year  dates  the  importance  of  that  city  as  a  lace  market. 
The  manufacture  was  gradually  developed.  Only  the  tulle  variety  of 
embroidery  lace  was  produced  until  1886.  The  distinguishing  feature 
of  this  was  that  the  hollow  effects  were  made  by  opening  the  tulle 
meshes  by  hand.  Then,  in  1886,  an  openwork  process  was  invented 
by  which  chemical  action  was  employed  to  remove  a  woolen  or  silk 
foundation  from  the  cotton-embroidered  pattern,  or  a  cotton  foundation 
from  a  silk  embroidery  that  had  been  worked  on  it.  This  made  it 
possible  to  form  the  pattern  by  the  embroidery  machine  in  the  same  way 
as  in  the  case  of  ordinary  embroidery.  The  wool  foundation,  which  is 
necessary  to  be  removed  in  finishing  the  goods,  is  dissolved  by  the 
action  of  certain  chemicals  without  changing  the  cotton  or  silk  pattern. 
In  this  way  the  most  difficult  and  complicated  patterns  of  real  lace  can 
be  imitated.  Plauen  manufacturers  have  for  the  most  part  taken  the 
old  and  costly  hand-made  laces  of  former  times  for  their  models ;  but 
they  have  also  originated  new  and  tasteful  designs  from  time  to  time. 

Point  Applique. — Point  lace  whose  design  is  separate  from  the  net 
ground,  to  which  it  is  afterward  applied.  At  the  present  time  the  net 
ground  is  usually  machine-made.  The  word  "point,"  however,  in  this 
connection,  is  of  variable  application,  sometimes  signifying  Point  Ap- 
plique, and  sometimes  denoting  lace,  whether  pillow  or  needle-point ; 
that  is,  worked  in  sprays  and  laid  upon  a  machine-net  ground.  (See 
Application  lace.) 

Point  d'Alexc/ox. — See  Alengon. 

Poixt  d'Axgleterre. — See  English  Point. 

Poixt  de  Gaze. — A  very  fine,  gauze-like  lace,  made  entirely  with  the 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History.  65 

needle  and  grounded  with  its  own  net.  Point  de  Gaze  is  the  result  of  an 
attempt  of  the  Brussels  lacemakers  to  return  to  the  best  early  traditions 
of  needle-point.  Point  de  Gaze  differs,  however,  from  the  finest  old 
needle-point  in  certain  respects,  partly  necessitated  by  modern  taste  in 
design,  and  partly  from  the  need  of  great  economy  in  labor  costs.  For 
example,  the  execution  is  much  more  open  and  delicate  than  in  the  early 
lace  of  this  description,  but  this  very  delicacy  and  slightness  are  made 
use  of  to  produce  a  very  elegant  effect.  Part  of  the  toile,  or  substance 
of  the  pattern,  is  made  in  close  and  part  in  open  stitch,  giving  an  appear- 
ance of  shading,  and  the  open  parts  are  very  tastefully  ornamented  with 
dots.  The  result  does  not  in  all  respects  equal  the  softness  and  rich- 
ness of  the  early  lace,  but  if  Point  de  Gaze  seems  thin  and  loose  in  com- 
parison, and  if  the  patterns  seem  less  ideally  beautiful,  nevertheless  the 
later  work  has  a  unique  lightness  and  delicacy  to  which  the  earlier  lace 
did  not  attain.  It  certainly  is  the  most  etherial  and  delicately  beautiful 
of  all  point  laces.  Its  forms  are  not  emphasized  by  a  raise  outline  of 
buttonhole  stitching,  as  in  Point  d'Alengon  and  Point  d'Argentan,  but 
are  simply  outlined  by  a  thread. 

Point  de  Gexe. — A  name  at  present  applied  to  a  species  of  lace 
made  both  in  cotton  and  silk  at  St.  Gall  and  Plauen,  and  recognized 
by  its  regular  net  ground  and  large,  open  patterns  in  heavy  stitchwork. 
It  is  a  popular  trimming  for  women's  dresses.  Point  de  Gene,  or 
Genes,  was  originally  one  of  the  laces  made  at  the  city  of  Genoa  and 
in  the  surrounding  country  during  the  seventeenth  century,  both  the 
pillow  and  needle  laces  made  there  being  deservedly  famous.  Gold 
and  silver  thread  and  gold  wire  were  used  in  the  manufacture  of  the 
earliest  needle-point  laces  at  Genoa,  and  the  gold  wire  was  drawn  out 
in  exact  imitation  of  the  early  Greek  method.  One  of  the  best  Genoese 
laces  resembles  the  early  Greek  points  in  patterns.  There  was  also  a 
guipure  lace,  made  from  aloe  fiber,  as  well  as  the  knotted  lace  now 


known  as  Macrame.  The  last  named  is  the  only  lace  at  present  made 
in  Genoa,  and  along  the  seaeoast. 

Point  d*Esprit. — A  term  applied  to  a  small  oval  or  square  figure, 
peculiar  to  certain  varieties  of  early  guipure,  and  ordinarily  composed  of 
three  short  lengths  of  parchment  or  cord,  placed  side  by  side  and  cov- 
ered with  thread.  These  oval  or  square  figures  were  most  commonly 
arranged  in  the  form  of  rosettes.  At  present  the  term  Point  d'Esprit 
denotes  a  much  smaller  solid  or  mat  surface,  used  to  diversify  the  net 
ground  of  some  laces.  It  is  in  the  form  of  small  squares  that  set  at  close 
and  regular  intervals.  In  standard  histories  of  lace  the  term  is  also 
used  as  synonymous  with  embroidered  tulle,  made  in  Brittany,  Denmark 
and  around   Genoa. 

Point  dTrlande. — A  coarse,  machine-made  imitation  of  real  Vene- 
tian point  lace.  It  is  popular  for  dress  trimmings,  and  is  manufactured 
in  a  great  variety  of  widths  in  cotton  and  silk.  It  has  no  net  ground, 
the  patterns  being  united  by  brides. 

Point  de  Milan. — A  guipure  lace  with  a  small  mesh  ground,  and 
the  pattern  distinguished  by  striking  scroll  designs.  The  flowers  in 
the  pattern  of  hand-made  Point  de  Milan  are  flat,  and  have  the  appear- 
ance of  having  been  wrought  in  close-woven  linen.  Milan  point  was 
made  at  the  city  of  that  name  in  1493.  Gold  and  silver  thread  were 
first  used,  but  the  Milan  points  were  finer  than  these,  and  fully  equal 
to  the  best  Spanish  and  Venetian  points. 

Point  de  Paris. — Originally  a  narrow  pillow  lace,  resembling  Brus- 
sels. The  term  is  now  generally  applied  to  a  machine-made  cotton 
lace  of  simple  pattern  and  inferior  quality.  In  its  making  a  design 
whose  figures,  such  as  flowers  and  leaves,  are  outlined  with  a  heavy 
thread,  is  worked  upon  a  net  ground.  Point  de  Paris  is  distinguished 
by  the  net,  which  is  hexagonal  in  form. 

Point  de  Venise. — See  Venice  Point. 


6s  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


Point. — Same  as  Needle-point  lace,  made  wholly  by  hand,  with  the 
needle  and  a  single  thread. 

Pot. — Lace  whose  pattern  is  distinguished  by  the  figure  of  a  vase 
or  deep  dish,  and  sometimes  by  that  of  a  basket  containing  flowers. 
It  is  the  best-known  lace  made  at  Antwerp,  and  was  formerly  in  com- 
mon use  in  that  city  for  decorating  women's  caps.  The  vase  and  basket 
figures  vary  much  in  size  and  design.  Some  have  considered  this  pat- 
tern to  be  a  survival  from  an  earlier  design,  including  the  figure  of  the 
Virgin  and  the  Annunciation,  but  this  is  not  certain. 

Powdered. — Lace  whose  ground  is  strewn  with  small,  separate 
ornaments,  such  as  flowers,  sprigs,  or  squares,  like  Point  d'Esprit.  The 
term  is  applied  also  to  whitened  lace. 

Renaissance. — A  modern  point  lace,  whose  patterns  are  made  of 
narrow  braid,  and  united  by  bars  or  filling  of  different  kinds.  It  is 
generally  ornamented  with  circular  figures  and  scroll-work,  stitched  in 
place  by  needle  and  thread,  the  intervening  spaces  or  groundwork, 
being  composed  of  a  variety  of  fancy  openwork.  Irish  Renaissance, 
Luxeuii  and  Battenberg  are  the  other  names  for  this  lace. 
Rose  Point. — See  Venice  Point. 

Saxony. — Fine  drawnwork  embroidered  with  the  needle,  in  much 
demand  in  the  eighteenth  century.  At  the  present  time  the  term  is 
somewhat  vague,  denoting  many  kinds  of  laces  made  in  Saxony,  espe- 
cially in  imitation  of  old  Brussels  lace.  Though  the  latter  is  the  best 
that  is  made,  a  coarse  guipure  lace,  known  as  Etervelle,  and  plaited  lace 
has  the  greatest  sale. 

Rose  Point. — See  Venice  Point. 

Seaming. — A  narrow  openwork  insertion,  gimp  or  braiding,  with 
parallel  sides,  used  for  joining  two  breadths  of  linen,  instead  of  sewing 
them  directly  the  one  to  the  other.  The  name  is  given  to  a  similar  lace 
used  for  edgings,  as  in  the  trimming  of  pillow-cases  and  sheets.     Dur- 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History.  69 

ing  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  this  lace  was  very  popular, 
though  the  name  "seaming"  was  then  applied  to  any  kind  of  lace  used 
for  a  particular  purpose — namely,  to  insert  in  the  linen  or  other  fabric 
wherever  a  seam  appeared,  and  often  where  no  seam  was  really  neces- 
sary. The  lace  first  used  for  this  purpose  was  cut- work;  then  Hollie 
point  became  fashionable,  and  afterward  the  custom  grew  to  be  so 
common  that  cheaper  laces  were  employed.  There  is  still  in  existence 
a  sheet  decorated  with  cut-work  that  once  belonged  to  Shakespeare. 

Silver. — A  passement  or  guipure  wholly  or  in  large  part  com- 
posed of  silver  wire,  or  of  warp  threads  of  silk,  or  silk  and  cotton 
combined,   wound   with  a  thin,   flat  ribbon  of  silver.     See  Gold  lace. 

Spanish. — A  general  term  applies  to  the  following  four  different 
kinds  of  lace:  (a)  Needle-point  lace,  brought  from  Spanish  convents 
after  their  dissolution,  though  the  art  of  making  it  is  thought  by  some 
to  have  been  learned  in  Flanders,  (b)  Cut  and  drawnwork  made  in 
Spanish  convents,  of  patterns  usually  confined  to  simple  sprigs  and 
flowers,  (c)  A  modern  black  silk  lace  with  large  flower  patterns. 
(d)  A  modern  needle-made  fabric,  the  pattern  usually  in  large  squares. 
The  machine-made  black  and  white  silk  laces,  with  their  flower  pat- 
terns, are  from  Lyons  and  Calais,  France.  Much  could  be  said  about  the 
uncertain  application  of  the  term  "Spanish"  in  regard  to  certain  kinds 
of  lace.  It  has  often  been  inaccurately  used.  For  instance,  "Spanish 
Point"  and  "Point  d'Espagne"  have  been  misapplied  to  Italian  laces, 
in  the  same  way  that  "Point  d'Angleterre"  has  been  misapplied  to 
Brussels  lace.  In  the  four  kinds  of  Spanish  lace  above  enumerated,  it 
is  noticeable  that  some  are  of  Flemish  origin.  A  lace  known  for  cer- 
tain to  be  of  Spanish  origin  is  a  coarse  pillow  guipure  made  in  white 
thread  and  also  of  gold  and  silver.  It  is  a  loosely  made  fabric  consist- 
ing of  three  cordonnets,  the  center  one  being  the  coarsest,  united  by 
finer  threads  running  in  and  out  across  them,  and  with  brides  to  join 


^q  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


the  parts  of  the  pattern  and  keep  them  in  shape.  It  is  well  known 
that  large  quantities  of  lace  that  have  the  characteristics  of  raised 
Venetian  Point  were  used  in  Spain,  both  for  court  dresses  and  church 
purposes,  such  as  the  ornamentation  of  vestments  and  altars.  During 
the  invasion  of  Napoleon  the  churches  and  monasteries  were  pillaged 
and  the  laces  contained  therein  were  scattered  abroad  and  sold  as  being 
of  Spanish  origin,  though  many  of  them  were  not. 

The  graceful  Spanish  headdress,  the  mantilla,  has  been  chiefly  made 
in  the  province  of  Catalonia,  out  of  black  and  white  Blondes,  but  it  is 
inferior  to  a  similar  lace  of  French  manufacture.  The  most  celebrated 
of  the  Spanish  laces  are  the  gold  and  silver  fabrics,  known  as  Point 
d'Espagne,  the  Blonde  laces  and  Spanish  or  Rose  point.  The  first- 
named  is  a  very  old  lace,  was  known  in  Spain  as  early  as  the  middle 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  is  made  with  gold  and  silver  threads,  upon 
which  a  pattern  is  embroidered  in  colored  silk.  The  Blondes,  which 
have  been  already  mentioned,  have  thick  though  graceful  patterns 
upon  a  light  net  ground.  Rose  point  is  wholly  made  with  the  needle 
and  is  very  like  Venetian  point,  being  considered,  in  fact,  as  a  variety 
of  the  latter.  The  close  resemblance  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
this  kind  of  lace  was  made  by  the  inmates  of  religious  houses,  which 
were  transferred  from  one  country  to  another  at  the  will  of  their  supe- 
rior and  carried  with  them  the  secret  of  a  difficult  art.  The  Rose 
points,  some  of  which  are  not  raised,  are  formed  with  a  pattern-worked 
net  in  buttonhole  stitches,  the  parts  of  the  pattern  being  joined  together 
by  brides.  The  raised  Rose  points  are  recognized  by  their  thick  cor- 
donnet  or  outlining  of   the  pattern. 

Tambour. — Lace  made  with  needle  embroidery  upon  a  machine- 
made  net,  generally  black  or  white  Nottingham.  It  is  chiefly  made  in 
Ireland  and   commonly  included  among  the  Limerick  laces. 

Tape.— A  lace  made  with  the  needle,  except  that  a  tape  or  narrow 


71 


Lace:  Its  OH  pin  and  History. 


strip  of  linen  is  wrought  into  the  work  and  is  the  distinguishing  feature 
of  the  pattern.  These  plain  or  ornamented  tapes  or  braids,  arranged  so 
as  to  form  the  pattern,  have  always  been  peculiar  to  this  kind  of  lace. 
The  patterns  are  connected  together  with  either  bride  or  net  grounds. 
The  earliest  were  made  with  a  bride  ground  and  simple  cloth  stitch,  but 
gradually  very  elaborate  designs  were  wrought  as  part  of  the  braid- 
like patterns  and  united  by  open-meshed  grounds.  In  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries  the  braid  and  tape  laces  included  the  large 
majority  of  coarse  pillow  laces  made  in  Flanders,  Spain  and  Italy. 

Thread. — Lace  made  from  linen  thread  as  distinguished  from  silk 
and  cotton  laces.     Black  thread  is  a  misnomer   for  Chantilly. 

Torchon. — A  coarse  pillow  lace  made  of  strong,  soft  and  loosely 
twisted  thread.  In  Europe  it  is  known  also  as  "Beggars'  "  lace,  and  the 
old  French  Gueuse  lace  was  similar  to  Torchon.  The  patterns  gen- 
erally are  very  simple  and  formed  with  a  loose  stout  thread  and  the 
ground  is  coarse  net.     Torchon  is  now  also  machine  made. 

Valenciennes. — A  solid  and  durable  pillow  lace  having  the  same 
kind  of  thread  throughout  for  both  ground  and  pattern.  Both  the  pat- 
tern and  ground  are  wrought  together  by  the  same  hand,  and  as  this 
demands  much  skill  in  the  manipulation  of  a  great  many  threads  and 
bobbins,  the  price  of  Valenciennes  is  very  high.  The  mesh  of  the 
ground  is  usually  square  or  diamond  shaped,  very  open  and  of  great 
regularity.  It  is  a  flat  lace,  worked  in  one  piece,  and  no  different  kind 
of  thread  is  introduced  to  outline  the  pattern  or  to  be  wrought  into  any 
part  of  the  fabric.  This  affords  a  ready  means  of  distinguishing  the 
hand-made  variety  of  this  lace.  The  Valenciennes  now  made  is  not  so 
beautiful  in  design  and  construction  as  the  fabric  of  an  earlier  date, 
especially  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  is  usually  of 
narrower  width  and  is  easier  to  learn  how  to  make. 

Valenciennes    was    first    made    at    the    town    of    that    name,    which, 


though  originally  Flemish,  was  transferred  to  France  by  treaty;  and 
the  manufacture  at  this  town  was  carried  on  under  conditions  which 
assured  the  superiority  of  the  lace  produced  there.  The  difference 
between  the  Valenciennes  product  and  that  of  other  towns  could  be 
detected  by  the  softer  "feel"  in  the  former  case,  because  the  moist  climate 
of  Valenciennes  gave  a  smoother  action  to  the  bobbins  when  used  in 
manufacture;  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  lace  was  made  in 
underground  rooms.  These  peculiarities  earned  for  lace  made  in  that 
town  the  name  of  Vraie  Valenciennes,  and  it  brought  a  higher  price 
than  the  Valenciennes  of  the  surrounding  villages.  The  thread  was 
spun  from  the  finest  flax.  To  buy  a  yard  of  a  flounce  or  a  pair  of  broad 
ruffles  was  a  serious  matter  for  the  purchaser  unless  he  was  wealthy. 
The  labor  cost  was  high  even  in  those  days  of  low  wages;  from  300 
to  1,200  bobbins  were  required  in  a  piece  of  fine  work.  The  history  of 
the  changes  in  Valenciennes  patterns  is,  to  some  extent,  a  history  of 
deterioration  in  elegance  of  design.  The  first  patterns  were  exquisitely 
beautiful,  the  designs  often  being  wrought  in  grounds  that  were  varied 
in  several  ways  even  in  one  piece.  The  designs  afterward  became  sim- 
pler, and  octagon  and  hexagon  ineshes  came  to  take  the  place  of  the  close 
grounds  of  earlier  manufacture.  Since  1780  the  lighter  and  less  expen- 
sive laces  of  Lille,  Brussels  and  Arras  have  partly  ousted  the  more  beau- 
tiful, costly  and  durable  product  of  Valenciennes,  while  changes  in  mod- 
ern dress  have  stopped  the  demand  for  some  articles  which  were  formerly 
among  the  fashionable  mainstays  of  the  industry ;  for  example,  men's 
ruffles. 

The  French  Revolution  practically  destroyed  lacemaking  at  Valen- 
ciennes, and  the  industry  was  transferred  to  Belgium.  The  lace  pro- 
duced there  was,  however,  given  the  name  of  False  Valenciennes. 
Alost,  Bruges,  Ypres,  Ghent,  Menin  and  Courtrai  became  centers  of 
the  manufacture,  and  the  lace  made  in  each  town  had  a  distineuishino- 


74  Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


feature  in  the  ground.  For  example,  the  Client  ground  is  square 
meshed,  the  bobbin  being  twisted  two  and  one-half  times.  At  Ypres, 
the  ground  is  square  meshed,  but  the  bobbins  are  twisted  four  times. 
In  Courtrai  and  Menin,  the  bobbins  are  twisted  three  and  a  half  times, 
and  in  Bruges  three  times.  As  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the 
making  of  old  Valenciennes  is  a  lost  art,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
last  important  piece  of  work  executed  within  that  town  was  a  headdress 
presented  by  the  town  to  the  Duchesse  de  Nemoms  on  her  marriage  in 
L840.  The  headdress  was  made  by  old  women,  the  few  real  Valen- 
ciennes laceworkers  then  surviving,  with  the  praiseworthy  and  patriotic 
object  of  showing  the  perfection  of  the  product  of  former  days.  There 
are  several  machine-made  varieties  of  Valenciennes.  English  Valen- 
ciennes is  chiefly  made  at  Nottingham;  it  is  also  called  Piatt  and  Nor- 
mandy Valenciennes.  It  is  an  imitation  of  the  early  hand-made  lace, 
to  the  extent  of  having  a  similar  diamond-meshed  ground.  Its  pattern 
is  without  relief,  and  the  threads  of  which  it  is  made  are  no  heavier  than 
the  ground.  French  Valenciennes  is  made  mostly  at  Calais.  Its  pattern 
is  usually  outlined  by  a  stouter  thread  than  that  forming  the  ground, 
and  it  has  a  finer  finish  and  softer  "feel"  than  the  English  Valenciennes ; 
in  fact,  it  is  an  excellent  imitation  of  the  real.  Italian  Valenciennes  is 
a  narrow,   fine-threaded   lace,   used    for   trimming  fine   underwear. 

Venice  Point. — A  needle-point  lace  made  at  Venice  during  the  first 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  apply  the 
name  exclusivelv  to  any  one  of  the  several  varieties  of  Venetian  point 
made  at  that  time;  but  Venetian  Raised  point,  whose  pattern  is  of  large, 
beautifully  designed  flowers  in  decided  relief  and  united  by  brides  or 
liars,  is  commonly  called  Venetian  point.  Other  names  applied  to  this 
kind  of  lace  are  Rose  point,  Venetian  Flat  point,  Carnival  lace,  Car- 
dinal's point,  Pope's  point,  and  Point  d'Espagne.  These  names  simply 
register  the  various  changes  of  style  and  manufacture  in  the  history  of 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History. 


this  lace.  With  the  exception  of  Point  d'Espagne,  which  has  a  less 
valid  claim  to  he  called  Venetian  point  than  the  others,  the  various 
names  given  serve  roughly  to  suggest  the  distinction  between  three  sep- 
arate stages  in  point  of  style  and  date  of  the  fabric  known  broadly  as 
"Punto  tagliato  a  foliani,"  or  Venetian  point.  They  are  generally  given 
as  follows:  (1)  Venetian  Raised  point,  or  Gros  Point  de  Venise,  under 
which  is  included  Rose  point;  (2)  Venetian  Flat  point,  or  Point  Plat  de 
Venise,  with  its  later  variety,  known  as  Coraline  point;  (3)  Grounded 
\  enetian  point,  or  Point  de  Venise  a  Reseau,  which  includes  Burano 
point,  so  called  from  the  island  near  Venice,  where  it  was  made.  With 
regard  to  Raised  point,  it  is  worth  noting,  in  addition  to  the  character- 
istics already  referred  to,  that  the  flower  design  is  of  a  freedom  and 
continuity  that  make  the  pattern  so  filling  that  there  is  very  little  space 
left  for  the  ground,  the  bridework  merely  serving  to  hold  the  pattern 
strongly  together.  The  cordonnet,  or  outlining  thread,  is  unusually 
prominent,  and  the  raised  part  is  no  less  remarkable  for  its  boldness  in 
design  than  for  its  delicate  workmanship.  An  Italian  poet  has  described 
this  work  as  "sculptured  in  relief."  In  Raised  point  the  skill  of  the  lace- 
worker  was  informed  by  the  instinct  for  beauty  in  such  a  degree  as  to 
produce  one  of  the  highest  types  of  the  art.  Rose  point  resembles 
Raised  point  in  all  essential  features,  the  only  difference  being  that  the 
designs  are  smaller  and  the  ornamentation  more  abundant.  The  pattern 
is  less  filling  and  the  connecting  brides  more  prominent. 

Flat  Venetian  point  is  marked  by  an  absence  of  the  prominent  raised 
work,  the  designs  are  more  attenuated,  and  the  brides  are  altogether 
more  prominent  than  in  the  Raised  point.  Coraline  point  is  a  variety  of 
Flat  point,  which  must  be  considered  a  deterioration  in  design  on 
account  of  its  ill-connected  and  irregular  pattern,  which  was  originally 
supposed  to  imitate  a  branch  of  coral.  There  is  no  raised  work,  the 
ground  meshes  are  ill-arranged  and  ill-shaped,   and   on   the  whole  this 


Lace:  Its  Origin  and  History.  77 


lace  marks  the  decadence  of  an  art  formerly  almost  perfect.  It  is  more 
like  an  imitation  of  a  free  growth  of  plants,  the  tangled  growth  of  a 
state  of  nature,  as  compared  with  the  order  and  beauty  of  art.  The 
grounded  point,  the  last  stage  of  development  of  Venetian  lace,  began  to 
be  made  to  supply  the  markets  of  France  after  the  fine  old  Venetian 
point  had  been  excluded  by  protective  laws.  The  Venetian  lacemakers 
then  adopted  the  reseau  or  net  ground  made  at  Alencon.  The  ground 
is  composed  of  double  twisted  threads,  and  has  a  rounder  mesh  than 
Alencon,  and  there  is  no  outlining  cordonnet.  In  this  variety  of  Vene- 
tian point,  which  was  produced  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  pattern  is  not  so  well  arranged  as  in  others,  and  there  is  a 
redundancy  of  ornamentation.  The  manufacture  of  Venetian  point  is 
now  almost  extinct.  The  machine-made  variety,  produced  on  the  Schiffli 
embroidery  frame,  is  now  made  at  Plauen  and  St.  Gall.  (See  Plauen  lace.) 

Yak. — A  stout,  coarse  pillow  lace,  made  from  the  fine  wool  of 
the  Yak.  The  patterns  are  of  simple,  geometrical  design,  connected 
with  plaited  guipure  bars  that  form  part  of  the  pattern,  being  made  out 
of  the  same  threads  at  the  same  time.  The  term  is  also  applied  to  a 
machine-made  worsted  lace,  produced  in  black,  white  and  colors.  It 
is  used  as  a  trimming  for  undergarments,  shawls  and  petticoats. 

Ypres. — A  pillow  lace  resembling  Valenciennes,  but  sometimes  with 
bolder  designs  and  rather  large  lozenge  or  square  mesh  in  the  ground ; 
also  a  type  of  Valenciennes. 


